Capital city’s population growth the highest on record – new data reveals

Australia's population keeps on booming.

In fact, the population of Australia’s capital cities grew over 500,000 in the year ending June 2023, the largest annual growth recorded by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Beidar Cho, ABS head of demography said:

“Australia's capital cities grew by a record 517,200 people last financial year, with this growth largely driven by net overseas migration.”

The data from ABS show that Melbourne (up 167,500) and Sydney (up 146,700) had the biggest increase in 2022-23, with Perth and Brisbane each also adding over 80,000 people.

Along with Adelaide (28,100), these five cities had their largest annual population growth since the start of the series in 1971.

The growth rate for the capitals combined was 3.0 per cent, more than double the growth rate for regional Australia (1.4 per cent).

Perth had the highest growth rate (3.6 per cent), followed by Melbourne (3.3 per cent) and Brisbane (3.1 per cent).

ABS data highlights that the largest growth areas were mostly in outer-suburban parts of the capital cities, where net internal migration gains drove population growth.

Over 2022-23 Rockbank - Mount Cottrell in Melbourne's west grew by 4,300 people. Marsden Park - Shanes Park in Blacktown (3,900 people) and Boronia Heights - Park Ridge in Logan (2,000) grew the most in Sydney and Brisbane respectively.

Meanwhile, outside the capitals, the largest growth areas over 2022-23 were Caloundra West - Baringa and Landsborough (both up 1,700) in Queensland, and Barwon Heads - Armstrong Creek and Delacombe (both 1,100) in Victoria.

ABS also noted that population change at the regional level has three components: natural increase, internal migration and overseas migration:

• Natural increase was highest in Sydney followed by Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
• Brisbane and Perth were the only capitals to have net internal migration gains. Net internal migration loss was the largest in Sydney and Melbourne.
• All capital cities experienced net overseas migration gain, which was largest in Sydney followed by Melbourne, Perth and Brisbane.

About Brett Warren Brett Warren is National Director of Metropole Properties and uses his two decades of property investment experience to advise clients how to grow, protect and pass on their wealth through strategic property advice.