Urban population in Australia
Australia: Urban population was 24.22 million in 2025. ▲ Rising
Urban population in Australia, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
Australia recorded 24.22 million for urban population in 2025. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.
The figure is up 1.7% on the previous year and up 17.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, urban population in Australia peaked at 24.22 million in 2025 and was at its lowest, 8.38 million, in 1960.
That places Australia 40th out of 215 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 9.36 million | 8.38 million | 10.40 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 11.73 million | 10.66 million | 12.46 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 13.44 million | 12.60 million | 14.36 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 15.30 million | 14.57 million | 16.01 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 17.28 million | 16.19 million | 18.68 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 20.54 million | 19.00 million | 22.12 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 23.15 million | 22.38 million | 24.22 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More climate change data for Australia
- Population growth 1.5% (2025)
- Population, total 27.61 million (2025)
- Urban population growth 1.7% (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 in Australia?
- Urban population in Australia was 24.22 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest urban population recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 24.22 million in 2025.
- What is the lowest urban population recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 8.38 million in 1960.
- How does Australia rank for urban population?
- Australia ranks 40th out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is urban population rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 17.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Urban population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Urban population refers to people living in urban areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated using World Bank population estimates and urban ratios from the United Nations World Urbanization Prospects. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.