The population living in Australia's capitals increased by 303,100 people during 2018-19, according to the latest figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
"Capital city growth accounted for 79 per cent of Australia's total population increase in the year ending 30 June 2019," said ABS Director of Demography, Beidar Cho. "Just over 17 million people now live in the capitals." Melbourne's population grew by 113,500 to reach 5 million residents during 2018-19. This was the largest growth for any capital city, and was followed by Sydney (up 87,100 people), Brisbane (52,600) and Perth (27,400).