Where are people living in Australia?

Australia’s population hits a big milestone on Tuesday.

Australia's population set to reach 25 million Source: AAP

• What's the current growth rate and what’s causing it?
• Where are people living in Australia?
• How does it compare to other countries?
• How has migration played a role?
• How big will Australia's population get?
• Can we cope?

 

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ Population Clock, Australia's population will reach 25 million people just after 11pm AEST on Tuesday 7 August 2018.

Australia has the 53rd largest population in the world, one place behind North Korea and ahead of Côte d’Ivoire, and its population accounts for 0.33 per cent of the global total.

But “by world standards, Australia has a relatively rapidly growing population,” Nick Parr, professor of demography at Macquarie University, told SBS News. 

"This is quite unusual for a more developed country". 

Where are people living in Australia?

Most Australians (67 per cent) are living in capital cities, according to the ABS.

The majority are in New South Wales (65 per cent in Sydney), Victoria (77 per cent in Melbourne), South Australia (77 per cent in Adelaide), Western Australia (79 per cent in Perth) and the Northern Territory (60 per cent in Darwin).

Only Tasmania (44 per cent in Hobart) and Queensland (49 per cent in Brisbane) buck the trend.

Victoria (2.3 per cent), the ACT (2.2) and Queensland (1.7) experienced the biggest growth rates during 2017.

Despite experiencing some of Australia’s highest levels of population growth during the mining boom, growth in Western Australia was just one per cent.