Regional Population, 2024–25

Australia’s population grew by 1.5% in 2024–25. This was slightly below the pre‑pandemic average of 1.6%. Population change varied across regions.

Capital cities

• Combined capital city population growth was 1.8%, adding around 325,000 people. This matched growth rates seen before the pandemic.
• Growth slowed from 2.3% in 2023–24. This reflected a lower net inflow of overseas migrants, which fell from 368,000 to 258,000.
• Perth was the fastest‑growing capital city, with population growth of 2.4%.
• Hobart recorded the slowest growth, at 0.2%. It was the only capital city with growth below 1%.
• Darwin was the only capital city to grow faster than the previous year, increasing from 1.5% to 1.7%.
• Around 85% of net overseas migration settled in capital cities. This share was consistent with recent years and the period before the pandemic.
• Capital cities recorded a net internal migration loss of around 30,000 people to regional areas. This was lower than the 34,000 recorded in 2023–24.

Rest of state areas

• Population growth in rest‑of‑state areas was 1.1%, or around 95,000 people. This was in line with pre‑pandemic trends and slightly lower than 2023–24.
• Net overseas migration remained the main driver of growth, contributing around 47,000 people.
• Many regional areas recorded more deaths than births due to older populations.
• In most regions, overseas and internal migration offset these natural population declines, such as in the Mid North Coast of New South Wales and Wide Bay in Queensland.
• Some regions, including Launceston, experienced population decline. This mainly reflected people moving to other parts of Australia.