Melbourne set to become Australia’s largest city

Melbourne set to become Australia’s largest city

Posted on Friday, April 04 2014 at 8:58 AM

Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) indicates Melbourne is set to have the largest population of all Australian capitals.

According ABS analysis, Sydney and Melbourne
each grew by almost 1.7 million people between 1973 and 2013, although the
overall growth rate for Melbourne was higher at 62 per cent compared with Sydney’s
54 per cent.

In their release, the ABS says if current trends prevail,
Melbourne is projected to overtake Sydney and become Australia’s largest
capital city by 2053.

The
analysis is part of a population growth study showing Australian capitals have
attracted three times more new residents than the rest of the country.

For
the 12 month to June 2013, the country’s population grew by more than 400,000 people
in total, to 23.1 million.

Australia’s
capital cities grew by a combined 313,000 during the period, while the rest of
the country grew by 94,000.

Denise Carlton, a director at the ABS, says there
is a historical bias by new residents to choose capital cities.

“In 2013, two in
three (66 per cent) of Australians lived in a capital city, a slight increase
since 1973 when 65 per cent lived in a capital.

“By 2053, this share
is projected to increase to 72 per cent.

“That equates to
28 million people living in the capitals in 2053.”

Melbourne and Sydney
saw the strongest growth over the 12 months to June with population increases
of 95,000 and 81,000 respectively.

Perth and Brisbane
were the next highest in terms of growth while Hobart saw the least number of
new residents.

In percentage terms,
the results were different, according to Carlton.

“Currently, Perth and
Darwin are the fastest-growing capital cities.

“Between 2012 and
2013, Perth grew fastest (3.5 per cent), followed by Darwin (3 per cent),
Melbourne (2.2 per cent) and Brisbane (2.1 per cent),” she says.

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