Australia’s capital cities grew by 205,400 people in 2021-2022, with Brisbane making the most gains according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Brisbane recorded a 2.1% growth to 59,200 people, followed by Melbourne at 55,000 (1.1%) and Sydney at 37,300 (0.7%). Perth saw the second-highest growth rate of 1.5%, up 32,200, followed by Adelaide at 1.1%, up 16,100.
Growth in regional cities grew by 102,700 people, with a 1.2% growth rate on par with capital cities.
ABS head of demography Beidar Cho said growth in all capital cities followed a period of unprecedented decline in 2020-2021.
“We saw capital city population decline by 47,300 people in 2020-21, due to COVID-19 related changes to migration patterns,” Cho said. “Before this, the combined capital city population increased by 217,000 in 2019-20 and 277,400 in 2018-19.”
Brisbane’s population boom comes as local and international retailers set up shop in the city for the first time. This includes Longchamp, Louis Vuitton and Sarah & Sebastian.
Longchamp GM for Australia and New Zealand Julie Therond said a number of factors were behind the move.
“As part of our development plan in Australia, Brisbane was a city where we wanted to improve our presence and showcase the brand to our highest standards,” Therond said.
“We also wanted to be part of the city transformation that is currently happening in view of the upcoming 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games and other major projects which are going to transform the city.”
By 2032, the Australian Government’s Centre for Population forecasts the total Queensland population to reach 6,081,500, with an annual growth rate of 1.3%. This is a growth of 11.9% compared to it’s latest state population figures for Queensland of 5,354,801 on September 20, 2022.
For Brisbane, the Centre of Population predicts its population to hit 3,041,900 by 2032, up 413,800 people from ABS’ current population record for the capital city of 2,628,100.
Meanwhile, the largest growth areas in Australia were mostly in outer-suburban parts of capital cities, according to the ABS, where population growth was driven by people moving into these areas from other parts of Australia.
Over 2021-22, the area of Rockbank - Mount Cottrell in Melbourne's west grew by 5,000 people. Schofields - East in Blacktown (up 4,300) and Ripley in Ipswich (2,700) grew the most in Sydney and Brisbane respectively.
Outside the greater capital cities, the largest growth areas in Australia over 2021-22 were Caloundra West – Baringa (up 1,800) and Landsborough (1,600) in Queensland, Charlemont (1,500) in Victoria and Albion Park - Macquarie Pass (1,500) in New South Wales.