Adelaide, Australia Population 2024

Adelaide's 2024 population is now estimated at 1,379,280In 1950, the population of Adelaide was 429,277Adelaide has grown by 12,500 in the last year, which represents a 0.91% annual change.These population estimates and projections come from the latest revision of the UN World Urbanization Prospects. These estimates represent the Urban agglomeration of Adelaide, which typically includes Adelaide's population in addition to adjacent suburban areas.

Adelaide is the 5th most populous city in Australia and the capital of South Australia, located on the Adelaide Plains between the Gulf of St Vincent and the Mount Lofty Ranges. Named in honor of Adelaide of Saxe-Meiningen, the city was founded as a planned capital in the 19th century.

Size and Density of Adelaide

The Adelaide metropolitan area has an estimated population of 1.33 million in 2017 (over a total area of 3,257 square kilometers), while the City of Adelaide has a population of around 23,000 (over an entire area of 15.57 square kilometers).

About three-quarters of the population of South Australia lives in the Adelaide metropolitan area.

Adelaide Demographics

The foreign-born population of the city is about 30%, with large Italian and Greek communities in the east and west suburbs of Fulham, West Lakes, Newton, Payneham, Campbelltown and Torrensville. There are substantial Vietnamese populations in the northwest and northern suburbs of Athol Park, Mansfield Park, Pooraka, Woodville and others. Immigrants from Sri Lanka and India are concentrated in the inner suburbs such as Enfield, Kilburn, and Park Holme.

Recently, suburbs in the north and West have experienced substantial migration from Iran and Afghanistan. Chinese immigrants have settled mainly in the northeastern and eastern communities.

The largest communities of foreign-born residents of Adelaide originate from England (7%), Italy (1.5%), India (1.5%) China (1.4%) and Vietnam (1%).

While Adelaide was founded on religious tolerance, attracting many religious people and earning it the nickname "The City of Churches," about one-third of the population now has no religious affiliation, which makes Adelaide one of the least religious cities in the country.

English is a language often used in Adelaide, as well as Italian and Greek.

Adelaide History

Before becoming a British settlement in 1836, the Adelaide area was inhabited by the indigenous Kaurna Aboriginal people. South Australia was proclaimed a British colony in 1836 with the city's layout based on the Sicilian city of Catania. The city was established as a planned colony of free immigrants with promised freedom of religion and liberties. Based on the ideas of Edward Gibbon Wakefield, the land was sold by the government at a price high enough to be unaffordable to journeymen and laborers, which means Adelaide does not have the convict settlement history of other cities in Australia. Although, Edward Wakefield served time for crimes and it has been found that two officers and a mayor at different points were escaped convicts.

After years of struggle, Adelaide eventually began to prosper and, by 1856, it was a self-governing colony. Electricity was introduced in 1900, and the city had a post-war boom after World War I that was followed by droughts and the Depression. It was slowly transformed from an agriculture-based economy to a modern city with many transformed pre-war factories.

Adelaide Population Growth

Over the past decade, certain areas of Adelaide have grown faster than others, notably Golden Grove and Mawson Lakes. According to a leading demographer of Australia, South Australia's population growth rate has been very rapid. As it stands now, many new migrants initially come to South Australian regions like Adelaide first, eventually leaving for larger cultural communities further into the country.

In 2013, South Australia's population grew 0.9%, which is much faster than many countries although it still lags behind almost every other Australian state, primarily due to geography.

Country
Australia
Growth Rate
0.91%

86 Rows

Year
Population
20351,553,040
20341,536,810
20331,520,550
20321,504,250
20311,487,900
20301,471,520
20291,455,170
20281,438,940
20271,423,010
20261,407,600
20251,392,940
20241,379,280
20231,366,780
20221,355,520
20211,345,440
20201,336,400
20191,328,120
20181,320,320
20171,308,040
20161,295,860
20151,283,800
20141,271,870
20131,260,060
20121,248,360
20111,236,740
20101,221,640
20091,206,710
20081,191,980
20071,177,390
20061,163,000
20051,154,860
20041,146,810
20031,138,780
20021,130,830
20011,122,930
20001,121,570
19991,120,240
19981,118,900
19971,117,570
19961,116,240
19951,111,660
19941,107,100
19931,102,560
19921,098,050
19911,093,540
19901,081,580
19891,069,740
19881,058,050
19871,046,450
19861,034,990
19851,023,740
19841,012,620
19831,001,590
1982990,698
1981979,924
1980971,834
1979963,796
1978955,835
1977947,940
1976940,121
1975928,600
1974917,225
1973905,990
1972894,907
1971883,930
1970850,095
1969817,496
1968786,189
1967755,999
1966727,008
1965696,809
1964667,897
1963640,110
1962613,515
1961588,025
1960571,822
1959556,045
1958540,723
1957525,824
1956511,355
1955497,246
1954483,545
1953469,543
1952455,963
1951442,740
1950429,277

86 Rows

Year
Population
Change
Growth
1950429,2770%0
1951442,7403.14%13,463
1952455,9632.99%13,223
1953469,5432.98%13,580
1954483,5452.98%14,002
1955497,2462.83%13,701
1956511,3552.84%14,109
1957525,8242.83%14,469
1958540,7232.83%14,899
1959556,0452.83%15,322
1960571,8222.84%15,777
1961588,0252.83%16,203
1962613,5154.33%25,490
1963640,1104.33%26,595
1964667,8974.34%27,787
1965696,8094.33%28,912
1966727,0084.33%30,199
1967755,9993.99%28,991
1968786,1893.99%30,190
1969817,4963.98%31,307
1970850,0953.99%32,599
1971883,9303.98%33,835
1972894,9071.24%10,977
1973905,9901.24%11,083
1974917,2251.24%11,235
1975928,6001.24%11,375
1976940,1211.24%11,521
1977947,9400.83%7,819
1978955,8350.83%7,895
1979963,7960.83%7,961
1980971,8340.83%8,038
1981979,9240.83%8,090
1982990,6981.1%10,774
19831,001,5901.1%10,892
19841,012,6201.1%11,030
19851,023,7401.1%11,120
19861,034,9901.1%11,250
19871,046,4501.11%11,460
19881,058,0501.11%11,600
19891,069,7401.1%11,690
19901,081,5801.11%11,840
19911,093,5401.11%11,960
19921,098,0500.41%4,510
19931,102,5600.41%4,510
19941,107,1000.41%4,540
19951,111,6600.41%4,560
19961,116,2400.41%4,580
19971,117,5700.12%1,330
19981,118,9000.12%1,330
19991,120,2400.12%1,340
20001,121,5700.12%1,330
20011,122,9300.12%1,360
20021,130,8300.7%7,900
20031,138,7800.7%7,950
20041,146,8100.71%8,030
20051,154,8600.7%8,050
20061,163,0000.7%8,140
20071,177,3901.24%14,390
20081,191,9801.24%14,590
20091,206,7101.24%14,730
20101,221,6401.24%14,930
20111,236,7401.24%15,100
20121,248,3600.94%11,620
20131,260,0600.94%11,700
20141,271,8700.94%11,810
20151,283,8000.94%11,930
20161,295,8600.94%12,060
20171,308,0400.94%12,180
20181,320,3200.94%12,280
20191,328,1200.59%7,800
20201,336,4000.62%8,280
20211,345,4400.68%9,040
20221,355,5200.75%10,080
20231,366,7800.83%11,260
20241,379,2800.91%12,500
20251,392,9400.99%13,660
20261,407,6001.05%14,660
20271,423,0101.09%15,410
20281,438,9401.12%15,930
20291,455,1701.13%16,230
20301,471,5201.12%16,350
20311,487,9001.11%16,380
20321,504,2501.1%16,350
20331,520,5501.08%16,300
20341,536,8101.07%16,260
20351,553,0401.06%16,230

Adelaide Population Data (Urban Area)

Name
2024 Pop.
2024 Growth
Melbourne5,315,6001.53%
Sydney5,184,9001.25%
Brisbane2,536,4501.28%
Perth2,143,4901.2%
Adelaide1,379,2800.91%
Gold Coast742,6001.4%
Canberra477,5671.11%
Newcastle465,1450.93%
Sunshine Coast370,8281.52%
Central Coast344,2000.84%
Wollongong315,3790.93%

Other Cities in Australia

  1. Australian Bureau of Statistics - Regional Population Growth, Adelaide, South Australia, Census 2015-16
  2. Sustainable Population Australia - Australia's population overview
  3. .ID The Population Experts - Demographic insights and resources

Sources