Latest population figures – Australia’s Capital Cities
On July 31st, 2012, the ABS quietly released the official population estimates (Estimated Resident Population, or ERP) for small areas in Australia. These are the first official population figures available for areas below the State level based on the 2011 Census results. What do they tell us about our capital cities?
Greater Melbourne has had the largest growth among the capitals, over one year, 5 years and 10 years. The 10 year growth is particularly impressive, adding ove 647,000 people, 170,000 more than Sydney.
The fastest growth was in Perth, up by 26.2% over 10 years, and 15.2% over 5 years. Perth’s one year growth was particularly strong – in 2010-11 it added almost as many people as Sydney (obviously Sydney is a much larger city).
Brisbane also had strong growth over this period.
Hobart and Adelaide were the slowest growing capitals, with 9.1% and 9.4% 10-year growth respectively.
Please note that the ABS have redefined the geographic areas of the capital cities as part of moving to the new statistical geography. Fortunately they have “backcast” on the new boundaries so we have populations back to 1971 for the new areas. Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane’s areas have expanded considerably in the new geography. However the ABS have also revised downwards the pre-Census estimates, due to lower numbers of people counted in the Census than expected.
If you are looking for State populations, analysed these in a previous blog. Next we will look in more detail at suburbs and LGA in each State..
Access more information about the Australian Census 2011.
Glenn Capuano - Census Expert
Glenn is our resident Census expert. After ten years working at the ABS, Glenn's deep knowledge of the Census has been a crucial input in the development of our community profiles. These tools help everyday people uncover the rich and important stories about our communities that are often hidden deep in the Census data. Glenn is also our most prolific blogger - if you're reading this, you've just finished reading one of his blogs. Take a quick look at the front page of our blog and you'll no doubt find more of Glenn's latest work. As a client manager, Glenn travels the country giving sought-after briefings to councils and communities (these are also great opportunities for Glenn to tend to his rankings in Geolocation games such as Munzee and Geocaching).
