Urban population growth in Australia
Australia: Urban population growth was 1.7% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Urban population growth in Australia, 1961–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in annual %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for urban population growth in Australia is 1.7%, measured in 2025.
That represents a change of down 21.2% on the previous year and up 3.0% over ten years.
Over the whole period, urban population growth in Australia peaked at 3.7% in 1971 and was at its lowest, 0.1%, in 2021.
That places Australia 87th out of 215 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 65 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 2.4% | 1.8% | 2.8% | 9 |
| 1970s | 1.8% | 1.0% | 3.7% | 10 |
| 1980s | 1.4% | 1.1% | 1.7% | 10 |
| 1990s | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 1.5% | 1.1% | 2.2% | 10 |
| 2010s | 1.7% | 1.5% | 1.9% | 10 |
| 2020s | 1.5% | 0.1% | 2.6% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Australia
- 84 Kazakhstan 1.7% compare
- 85 East Timor 1.7% compare
- 86 Turkmenistan 1.7% compare
- 88 Nicaragua 1.6% compare
- 89 Cape Verde 1.6% compare
- 90 Maldives 1.6% compare
More climate change data for Australia
- Population growth 1.5% (2025)
- Population, total 27.61 million (2025)
- Urban population 24.22 million (2025)
- Urban population 87.7% (2025)
- Population in urban agglomerations of more than 1 million 60.7% (2025)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 11.62 billion cubic meters (2022)
- Annual freshwater withdrawals, total 2.4% (2022)
- Terrestrial protected areas 22.0% (2025)
- Terrestrial and marine protected areas 33.5% (2025)
- Marine protected areas 45.4% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is urban population growth in Australia?
- Urban population growth in Australia was 1.7% in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest urban population growth recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 3.7% in 1971.
- What is the lowest urban population growth recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 0.1% in 2021.
- How does Australia rank for urban population growth?
- Australia ranks 87th out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is urban population growth rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 3.0%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Urban population growth (annual %). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Annual urban population growth rate for year t is the exponential rate of growth of midyear urban population from year t-1 to t, expressed as a percentage. Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank total population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects.