Melbourne has overtaken Sydney as Australia’s most populous city for the first time since the 19th century.
According to the latest government figures, Melbourne's population is 4,875,400 – 18,700 more than Sydney's.
This is driven largely by significant population growth on Melbourne’s outer fringes, with the city limits being expanded to include the suburb of Melton.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) includes any connecting suburbs with more than 10,000 people as part of a city’s “significant urban area”.
Andrew Howe, of the statistics agency’s Regional Population Unit, told the Sydney Morning Herald: “Until the 2021 census definition, the Sydney significant area had a higher population than Melbourne.
“However, with the amalgamation of Melton into Melbourne in the latest significant urban area classification, Melbourne has more people than Sydney – and has had since 2018.”
However, when looking at the Greater Sydney and Greater Melbourne areas, Sydney remained bigger in June 2021.
‘Greater regions’ of a city take into account its “functional area”, and also include populations who regularly socialise, shop or work within the city, but may live in small towns and rural areas surrounding it.
The Australian federal government predicts Greater Melbourne’s population will overtake Greater Sydney’s in 2031-32.
Melbourne has previously held the title of Australia’s biggest city – though not for a while.
The city experienced rapid growth during Victoria’s gold rush in the late nineteenth century, which saw Melbourne’s population outnumber Sydney’s until around 1902.
