Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Australia
Australia: Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents was 7.59 million people in 2020. ▲ Rising
Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Australia, 1950–2020
Source: European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.
Analysis
In 2020, number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Australia stood at 7.59 million people. That is the highest value across all 15 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 22.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Australia peaked at 7.59 million people in 2020 and was at its lowest, 1.23 million people, in 1950.
That places Australia 38th out of 182 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 15 years of available data.
Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Australia, year by year
| Year | people | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1950 | 1.23 million people | — |
| 1955 | 2.41 million people | +95.5% |
| 1960 | 2.73 million people | +13.4% |
| 1965 | 3.05 million people | +11.8% |
| 1970 | 3.52 million people | +15.4% |
| 1975 | 3.94 million people | +11.9% |
| 1980 | 4.20 million people | +6.6% |
| 1985 | 4.54 million people | +8.1% |
| 1990 | 4.88 million people | +7.6% |
| 1995 | 5.11 million people | +4.6% |
| 2000 | 5.20 million people | +1.8% |
| 2005 | 5.50 million people | +5.7% |
| 2010 | 6.20 million people | +12.7% |
| 2015 | 6.86 million people | +10.8% |
| 2020 | 7.59 million people | +10.6% |
Australia compared with similar countries
- Australia's 7.59 million people is above the median for high income countries, which is 1.35 million people, 5.6× the median. (60 countries reporting)
- Australia's 7.59 million people is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 3.82 million people, 2.0× the median. (24 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Australia changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | +95.5% | 1.23 million people | 2.41 million people |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 1.82 million people | 1.23 million people | 2.41 million people | 2 |
| 1960s | 2.89 million people | 2.73 million people | 3.05 million people | 2 |
| 1970s | 3.73 million people | 3.52 million people | 3.94 million people | 2 |
| 1980s | 4.37 million people | 4.20 million people | 4.54 million people | 2 |
| 1990s | 5.00 million people | 4.88 million people | 5.11 million people | 2 |
| 2000s | 5.35 million people | 5.20 million people | 5.50 million people | 2 |
| 2010s | 6.53 million people | 6.20 million people | 6.86 million people | 2 |
| 2020s | 7.59 million people | 7.59 million people | 7.59 million people | 1 |
Countries ranked near Australia
More reference data data for Australia
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 1.21 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 28.02 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 38.41 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 2.55 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 38.41 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 4.07 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 6.14 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 118.71 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 170.29 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 13.9 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Australia?
- Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents in Australia was 7.59 million people in 2020, according to European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents recorded in Australia?
- The highest recorded value was 7.59 million people in 2020.
- What is the lowest number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents recorded in Australia?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.23 million people in 1950.
- How does Australia rank for number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents?
- Australia ranks 38th out of 182 countries with data for 2020.
- Is number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents rising or falling in Australia?
- Over the last ten years it is up 22.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Australia data come from?
- The figures come from European Commission, Joint Research Centre (JRC) (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Number of people living in cities with more than 1 million residents. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 15 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Total population living in cities with 1 million or more people. City boundaries are defined using a consistent global approach based on satellite imagery and population data.