Nation’s capitals squeeze in an extra 430,000 people

The nation’s capital cities squeezed in an extra 430,000 residents over the past 12 months as four in 10 Australians call Sydney and Melbourne home.

Ahead of an election that will feature promises from both major parties to slice immigrant numbers, new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed population growth continues to be driven by net overseas migration, which accounted for almost 90 per cent of the growth in capital cities.

Combined, the capitals are now home to 18.4 million people. Sydney added 107,500 residents in the 12 months to the end of June, taking its population to a record 5.6 million, while Melbourne added 142,600.

Melbourne’s population is 5.4 million people and, combined with Sydney, accounts for 40 per cent of Australia’s 27.2 million total. Perth is the nation’s fastest-growing capital, up by 3.1 per cent to almost 2.4 million, while Brisbane added 72,900 residents to reach 2.8 million people.

The 430,000 rise in extra capital city residents was sharply down on the record 520,900 who shifted into the nation’s capitals in the previous 12 months.

The growth remains driven by net overseas migration. Despite a small fall in migrant numbers and an increase in people leaving the country, net overseas migration added 373,000 people to the capital cities.

The biggest increase was in Melbourne, which took in a net 121,400 residents, while Sydney took in 120,886. Brisbane (44,259) and Perth (53,414) also accommodated large numbers of migrants.

Many were students who helped swell particular suburbs home to major universities.

The single largest increase in migrants can be seen in the Melbourne suburb of Carlton, where the University of Melbourne is based. Other university suburbs, including Haymarket in Sydney (UTS) and Clayton in Melbourne (Monash University), also recorded large increases in migrants.

The outer suburbs of our capitals are the fastest-growing parts of the country. The population of the northern Canberra suburb of Taylor swelled by a nation-leading 29 per cent over the past 12 months.

Other fast-growing suburbs include Fraser Rise-Plumpton and Tarneit North in Melbourne’s west, Box Hill-Nelson in Sydney’s Baulkham Hills area and Strathnairn in Canberra.

Regional Australia grew by 1.3 per cent, or 113,800, to 8.8 million. The Gold Coast, the nation’s largest non-capital city area, has added almost 70,000 residents since 2019 and has more than 750,000 residents.

KPMG demographic director Terry Rawnsley said while population growth in the country’s major cities was slowing, it was still above pre-COVID levels.

He said greenfield, outer-suburban areas were continuing to grow rapidly, requiring ongoing investment in local infrastructure such as schools, roads and community facilities.

“But the numbers also highlight a significant shift in population in inner suburbs,” he said.

“Many established areas with good infrastructure, such as Sydney’s eastern suburbs and lower north shore, and Melbourne’s Bayside and Hobsons Bay, have seen back-to-back years of decline following COVID. But the latest data reveals even those locations saw growth in 2024.”

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