Narromine Shire facing loss of population by 2031 | Poll

The NSW Department of Planning and Environment delivered the grim outlook for the Orana region in its most recent release of projection figures.

The department announced the Narromine LGA would shed 500 people from its population, equating to a 7.6 per cent loss.

The trio of factors that were driving population change at Narromine included internal migration loss, high fertility rate and an ageing population.

Despite this, Regional Development Australia's Orana Chair, John Walkom believes it's not all doom and gloom for the small country town.

Mr Walkom said the projections overlooked the opportunities in emerging industries such as mining and renewable energy and the forecast was based on trends over the past two decades rather than an anaylsis of emerging opportunities.

"While regional centres like Dubbo are projected to grow, they don't take into account that many people in Dubbo are choosing the smaller communities close by like Narromine as a good place to live. The research we are currently undertaking will inform us a lot more about those smaller communities," Mr Walkom said.

The population of the Warren Local Government Area (LGA) would plummet by 16.9 per cent by 2031, according to the department's projections.

It would lose 500 people, taking its ranks back to 2400 people.

Like Narromine, Gilgandra LGA's population would fall by 11.4 per cent to 4000 people by 2031.

The population of the Wellington LGA was projected to fall by 750 people, or 8.4 per cent.

Wellington, Gilgandra and Warren are affected by the same factors as Narromine.

Losses of 5.1 per cent of the population - 150 people - face the Bogan LGA.

In the Nyngan-based Bogan LGA there were two factors identified as driving population change - internal migration and the high fertility rate.

While their populations decline in size, the Dubbo LGA was projected to increase by 15.6 per cent by 2031.