Australia Population 2023 (Live)

Current projections indicate that Australia’s population will continue to steadily grow for the rest of the century. Australia’s population is about 25.5 million as of 2020 and is projected to grow to 42.68 million people by 2099.

Australia’s population growth rate is 1.18%, adding about 296,000 people to the population over 2019’s population. This is a result of both net migration, which has been about 150,000 per year for the past few years, and natural increase. Australia’s fertility rate of 1.83 births per woman is below the population replacement rate of 2.1 births per woman.

Australia ranks fifth among OECD countries for population growth. As the other OECD countries with high growth rates, Australia has a strong labor demand that cannot be met from domestic sources; therefore, mass migration occurs.

Australia Area and Population Density

It is also the most populous country in Oceania, three times more populous than its neighbor Papua New Guinea (8.2 million) and 5 times more populous than New Zealand (4.5 million). As the 6th largest nation in the world, Australia has a very low population density of just 3 people per square kilometer, or 7 per square mile. This makes it one of the least densely populated countries in the world. Mongolia, Western Sahara and Suriname have fewer people per square kilometer than Australia. Some parts of Australia are even less densely populated. In the Northern Territory, every square kilometer holds just 0.2 people. Most of Australia's population is concentrated on or around the more hospitable coastal areas, as you can see in the density map further down the page.

The most recent Australian census was held in 2016 and confirmed that the population of Australia was 23,401,892. The Australian Bureau of Statistics also provides the Australian Population Clock, which uses population indicators to estimate the current population count.

Sydney is the home of the Opera House and the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and hosted the 2000 Summer Olympics. Sydney is Australia's largest and most cosmopolitan city. It is also the capital and largest city of New South Wales. The 2011 census revealed its population to be 4,391,674, an increase of 6.6% over the 2006 numbers. 2016 estimates placed the population at 4,920,970, which accounts for 20% of the nation's total population.

Melbourne, Australia's second city and a great rival of Sydney, is the capital of Victoria. Situated on the south coast, it was home to 3,999,982 people at the time of the 2011 census. It is growing even more quickly than Sydney and is forecast to become Australia's largest city within 25 years. According to 2016 estimates, the population is 4,529,496, which is 19.05% of Australia's population.

Brisbane, capital of Queensland, had a population of 2,065,996 on the day of the 2011 census. In the five years since the 2006 census, its population grew by an impressive 11.5%. Estimates in 2016 put the population around 2,308,720, or 9.71% of the nation's overall population.

Perth, capital of Western Australia, is the fastest growing state capital in Australia. It's population went up from 1,512,105 in 2006 to 1,728,867 in 2011, a growth rate of 14.3% in just five years. Growth has continued through 2016, with a population estimated to be 2,039,193.

Adelaide, capital of South Australia, is home to 1,316,779 people. Its growth rate of 5.9% from 2006-2011 makes it the slowest growing city among Australia's 5 largest cities.

As well as the five cities listed above, Canberra, the capital of Australia, is the country's eighth largest city, home to an estimated 424,666 people.

Hobart, the only state or national capital not listed, has an estimated 220,593 residents, making it Australia's eleventh most populous city.

There are six Australian states, ranging in population from 0.5 million to 7.6 million in population.

New South Wales is Australia’s largest state, home to an estimated 7,618,200 people in 2016. Its capital and largest city is Sydney.

Victoria, named after the English Queen, is Australia’s second largest state. Its estimated population 2016 was 5,938,100. Its largest city is Melbourne, Australia’s second city, where three quarters of all Victorians live.

Queensland is Australia's third largest state. Its estimated population in 2016 was 4,779,400. Queensland's largest city is Brisbane.

Western Australia is home to an estimated 2,591,600 people. Its capital city, Perth, is home to 2 million of WA's 2.5 million residents.

South Australia, which is located in the center of Australia's south coast, is home to approximately 1,698,600 people. Its largest city is its capital, Adelaide, which is home to all but 400,000 of South Australia's residents.

Tasmania is Australias smallest state, although still more populous than any of its territories. Home to approximately 516,600 people, its largest city is Hobart, which has a population of over 220,000.

In addition to six states, Australia has ten territories. There are three internal territories: the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), Jervis Bay Territory, and the Northern Territory. The Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory almost function as states, as each of the territory’s legislative assemblies can be overridden federally.

There are seven external territories: Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Australian Antarctic Territory, Christmas Island, Coco (Keeling) Islands, Coral Sea Islands, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, and Norfolk Island. Two of these territories, Ashmore and Cartier Islands and Heard Island and McDonald Islands, are uninhabited. The Australian Antarctic Territory has an approximate population of 60 inhabitants, who are mostly research station staff.

The Australian Capital Territory is an enclave inside of New South Wales. Home to Australia's capital city Canberra, 390,800 people live in the ACT.

The Northern Territory has an estimated 244,600 residents, making it the least densely populated part of Australia and one of the least densely populated areas in the world. Its largest city is Darwin, where more than half of the Territory's residents make their homes.

Australia Demographics

The Australian population census of 2011 showed that of the 21,507,717 declared residents, 25.4% of the population claimed their ancestry to be Australian. Those that claimed to be of English ancestry represented 25.9% of the total population. Other figures included Irish at 7.5%, Scottish at 6.4% and Italian at 3.3%.

Australia's population has quadrupled since World War I, mostly due to immigration. From the end of World War II through 2000, nearly 6 million immigrants came to Australia, accounting for 2 out of every 7 Australians. At the last census in 2011, over 30% of Australians were born in another country and over 46% had at least one overseas-born parent. The most common immigration sources in Australia are the United Kingdom, New Zealand, China, India, and Vietnam.

In 2011, the official indigenous population of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders was over 548,000, or 2.5% of the total population, up from 116,000 in 1976. This increase is due in part to the fact that many people with at least some indigenous heritage were undercounted before.

As with other developed countries, Australia's demographics are shifting toward an older population. The median age in Australia is 37 years.

Australia Religion, Economy and Politics

As of 2016, the population of Australia had the option to identify their religious affiliations through the census period and the findings show that 30.1% do not have a religious practice or belief, 22.6% of Australians are Catholic, 13.3% are Anglican Christian, 3.7% are affiliated with the Uniting Church, 2.6% identify as Christian in general, another 2.6% are affiliated with Islam, 2.4% are Buddhist, 2.3% are Presbyterian, 2.1% are Eastern Orthodox, 1.9% are involved in Hinduism, 1.5% are Baptist, 1.1% are Pentecostal, .7% are Lutheran, .5% are Sikh, .5% are other Protestant, .4% are affiliated with Judaism, another .4% are Jehovah's Witnesses, .3% are Seventh Day Adventists, .3% are Latter Day Saints and .2% are Oriental Orthodox.

Australia has a long history of economic stability, and as of 2018, they were the country with the largest median wealth for the average adult. The service sector is the largest portion of the Australian economy, making up 61.1% of the market an employing 79.2% of Australian citizens. Despite these successes, the economy is actually growing at the slowest rate that it has in a very long time at just 1.8% annual growth.

Australia Population History

In 1770 Captain James Cook chartered the eastern coast of the land and claimed it for Britain. For over twenty years, the area was used as a penal colony and once gold was found near New South Wales in 1851, the population exploded. By 1901, Australia had developed six states that were unified with a constitution. The population rate boomed to well over 2% after this time, and the country grew at that rate up until the 1970s, when it gradually started to slow down to the more manageable growth rate of today.

Is Australia a Continent?

Yes, Australia is a continent. It includes mainland Australia including the island regions of Seram and Tasmania.

Tasmania

This region covers an area of 90,758 km2 and is surrounded by Bass Strait to the north, Tasmanian Sea to the east, and Southern Ocean to the west and south. An interesting fact about this area is that it has got the cleanest air in the world, monitored by the Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station.

The lack of pollution is also attributed to Tasmania's location in the Southern Ocean, far from other landmasses. About one-fifth of Tasmania has been categorized as a world heritage area. This region covers 1.5 million hectares and includes forest reserves, marine, and national parks.

New South Wales

This sub-region of Australia borders Queensland to the North, South Australia to the west and the Pacific Ocean to the east. It's the most populous region in Australia with seven million people and covers an area of 802,000 square kilometers.

Western Australia

This region covers 32% of the Australian region and borders South Australia to the South-east, the Southern Ocean to the south and the Indian Ocean to the north and west. The area has a landmass of 2.5 million square kilometers with a population of 2.67 million people. This is about 10% of the national total.

Western Australia is also home to spectacular sceneries like the Super Pit Mine, one of Australia's largest gold mines. The mine is 1.4 kilometers wide and 3.5 kilometers long. In fact, the western Australian petroleum and mineral industry sales was worth over $172 billion between 2019 and 2020. Gold accounted for $16 billion with iron ore at $103 billion.

Queensland

This Australian sub-region is the third populous and second-largest in Australia. It has 4.8 million people and borders the Pacific Ocean to the East, New South West to the west. The region was named in honor of the monarch, Queen Victoria, on 6th June 1859.

Northern Territory

This area borders South Australia to the South, Queensland to the east and Arafura seas to the north. It also covers about one-sixth of the Australian continent and is semi-arid in the far south and tropical in the north. This area is home to the Aboriginal people, who have been inhabitants of the region for over 40,000 years.

History accounts that about 70,000 of these people resided in the region when the British began colonizing the area in 1788.

The Australian Capital Territory

This Australian sub-region lies in the southern district of New South Wales and extends 28 square miles east of the Tasman sea. This area has a rugged topography that allows for grazing, forestry, and farming. While this is the case, only a third of the territory is best suited for urban development.

This region has a continental climate characterized by seasonal variation in temperature. During the winter months (June to August), temperatures can go as low as -10 °C, with most of the higher parts of the mountain covered with snow.