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Australia's largest cities, 1975 to 2050

Sydney is Australia's largest city at about 4.15 million in 2025, with Melbourne close behind at 3.64 million; Perth grew from 0.07 million in 1975.

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What the data shows

  • In 2025, Sydney ranks #1 with 4.15M, ahead of Melbourne (3.64M) and Perth (1.08M).
  • By 2050, on the UN's projections, Sydney is projected to rank #1 with 4.55M, ahead of Melbourne (4.24M) and Brisbane (1.55M).
  • Sydney holds #1 for the whole period, 1975 to 2025.
  • Biggest climber: Brisbane, from #6 in 1975 to #3 in 2050.
  • Sydney grew 1.9× between 1975 and 2025.

About this chart

Australia's two biggest cities have been Sydney and Melbourne for the whole period, but the gap between them keeps narrowing. In 2025 Sydney has about 4.15 million people and Melbourne about 3.64 million, and the UN projects 4.55 million against 4.24 million by 2050. The real change is further down the list. Perth had about 0.07 million in 1975 and has about 1.08 million in 2025, while Brisbane went from 0.06 million to 1.07 million.

The UN counts each city as a contiguous dense area, so the table shows some places separately that locals would treat as part of a bigger city. Point Cook, for example, appears on its own at about 0.40 million. Values through 2025 are estimates and 2030 to 2050 are projections. These figures will not match city-proper or metro numbers published by Australian statistics agencies.

The data

Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2025 Revision (File 21), city population, millions, 1975–2050 (projected after 2025). Retrieved November 4, 2026. Cities as defined by the Degree of Urbanization (contiguous dense areas), so figures differ from city-proper or metro counts.

Australia's largest cities, Population in millions, 1975 to 2050, 1975–2050
Date🇦🇺 Sydney🇦🇺 Melbourne🇦🇺 Perth🇦🇺 Brisbane🇦🇺 Adelaide🇦🇺 Point Cook🇦🇺 Gold Coast🇦🇺 Newcastle🇦🇺 Dallas🇦🇺 Wollongong🇦🇺 North Lakes🇦🇺 Hackham West🇦🇺 Campbelltown🇦🇺 Cambridge Park🇦🇺 Langwarrin🇦🇺 Geelong🇦🇺 Hobart🇦🇺 Canberra
19752.22M1.72M0.07M0.06M0.44M0.09M0.05M
19802.35M1.85M0.17M0.16M0.57M0.09M0.06M
19852.54M2.00M0.28M0.25M0.62M0.05M0.09M0.06M0.06M
19902.72M2.17M0.36M0.36M0.68M0.06M0.10M0.07M0.06M
19952.88M2.23M0.61M0.53M0.69M0.07M0.08M0.07M0.10M0.08M0.06M0.06M
20002.86M2.34M0.64M0.57M0.71M0.06M0.11M0.14M0.05M0.09M0.07M0.06M0.06M
20052.97M2.52M0.71M0.65M0.73M0.07M0.19M0.15M0.06M0.07M0.09M0.06M0.07M0.06M
20103.32M2.88M0.91M0.80M0.78M0.14M0.22M0.17M0.09M0.08M0.09M0.07M0.07M0.06M
20153.68M3.19M0.98M0.89M0.83M0.27M0.25M0.17M0.05M0.10M0.09M0.09M0.08M0.08M0.07M0.06M
20204.07M3.52M0.97M0.96M0.86M0.40M0.27M0.18M0.12M0.10M0.09M0.09M0.09M0.08M0.08M0.06M
20254.15M3.64M1.08M1.07M0.88M0.40M0.30M0.18M0.12M0.11M0.10M0.10M0.10M0.09M0.09M0.08M0.06M
20304.27M3.75M1.25M1.11M0.90M0.42M0.35M0.19M0.13M0.11M0.16M0.10M0.10M0.09M0.09M0.08M0.06M0.11M
20354.34M3.89M1.34M1.15M0.94M0.43M0.37M0.19M0.13M0.11M0.17M0.11M0.10M0.09M0.10M0.14M0.06M0.15M
20404.40M4.00M1.40M1.30M0.98M0.44M0.39M0.20M0.13M0.11M0.17M0.11M0.10M0.11M0.11M0.15M0.06M0.15M
20454.47M4.09M1.46M1.40M1.01M0.45M0.47M0.20M0.14M0.12M0.18M0.11M0.11M0.11M0.11M0.15M0.06M0.17M
20504.55M4.24M1.52M1.55M1.03M0.46M0.55M0.20M0.15M0.12M0.18M0.12M0.11M0.11M0.11M0.18M0.06M0.17M

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Frequently asked questions

What is the largest city in Australia?

In 2025, Sydney ranks #1 with 4.15M, followed by Melbourne (3.64M) and Perth (1.08M). Source: UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2025 Revision (File 21), city population, millions, 1975–2050 (projected after 2025).

What is the largest city in Australia?

Sydney is the largest city in Australia in 2025, with about 4.15 million people under the UN's Degree of Urbanization definition. Melbourne is second at about 3.64 million. Sydney also led in 1975, when it had about 2.22 million people.

Will Melbourne overtake Sydney?

Not by 2050 in the UN projection. Sydney is projected at about 4.55 million and Melbourne at about 4.24 million, so the gap is about 0.31 million, down from about 0.51 million in 2025. Projections are a scenario and can change.

Are these figures for the city or the metro area?

Neither exactly. The UN uses contiguous dense urban areas, so a figure can differ from a city-proper count or a metro or greater-capital-city count. Use the numbers to compare cities on a consistent basis, not to match a local statistics release.

Where does this data come from?

UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects: The 2025 Revision (File 21), city population, millions, 1975–2050 (projected after 2025). Retrieved November 4, 2026. Cities as defined by the Degree of Urbanization (contiguous dense areas), so figures differ from city-proper or metro counts. You can download the full table as a CSV from this page.

Can I turn this chart into a video?

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