Australian Bureau of Statistics figures issued earlier this month put Canberra's population at 351,182.

Chief Minister Jon Stanhope said there had been a natural increase in the population with births and deaths giving Canberra a net total of 717 extra people.

An extra 627 overseas migrants also added to the total.

Canberra's population is predicted to reach 500,000 by the middle of the next century and the ACT Government believes it will hit 400,000 by 2022.

In March, the ACT's population was sitting at 349,000.

The Government has put together an online guide which tracks population changes and its projections. The guide is at www.cmd.act.gov.au

For more on this story, see today's Canberra Times.