Melbourne Becomes Australia’s Immigration Capital as Overseas Migration Drives Population Surge
New Australian Bureau of Statistics data confirms Melbourne has recorded the highest population increase among all Australian capital cities for the 2024–25 financial year. The city’s total population now stands at an estimated 5.43 million, marking a rise of 105,030 people over the last twelve months.
What Happened
The surge was driven almost entirely by international arrivals, with overseas migration contributing 81,168 new residents to the Greater Melbourne area. This figure places Melbourne ahead of every other capital regarding both total population growth and net overseas migration for the period.
Sydney followed with 78,403 people added through international migration, while Perth recorded 37,289 and Brisbane 33,934. Across all major cities combined, the national capital population increased by almost 325,000 people during the financial year.
What Is Confirmed
Melbourne’s population grew by 2.0 per cent during 2024–25. While Perth achieved the fastest percentage growth rate among the capitals at 2.4 per cent, Melbourne added the largest absolute number of residents overall.
The ABS analysis breaks down population change into three primary components: natural increase, internal migration, and overseas migration. Melbourne saw a natural increase of 32,416 people, meaning births exceeded deaths by that margin.
However, the city simultaneously lost 8,554 residents through net internal migration. Brisbane and Perth were the only capitals to record positive net internal migration figures during the year.
The Numbers That Matter
This creates an unusual population pattern where strong international arrivals push the city’s population higher even while more people leave for other Australian destinations than move in. Sydney grew by 75,230 people, Brisbane by 58,223, and Perth by 58,088.
There can be many reasons people relocate interstate or to regional areas, including employment opportunities, housing costs, family circumstances and lifestyle choices. Despite this interstate outflow, strong international arrivals pushed the total population increase to over 105,000.
Why This Matters
Rapid population expansion delivers significant economic benefits, including an increase in the available workforce, higher demand for businesses and services, and a boost to overall economic activity. Migration also plays a critical role in filling labour shortages across various industries, ranging from healthcare and construction to hospitality and technology.
The combination of record-sized population gains and negative internal migration is likely to add to the wider debate over Melbourne’s future growth. The debate is therefore not simply about immigration itself.
A central question remains whether governments are planning and building quickly enough to accommodate the population growth their policies help produce. Adding more than 100,000 residents in a single year requires additional homes, roads, public transport capacity, medical services, and education infrastructure.
When investments fail to keep pace with arrival rates, existing residents and new arrivals can both experience the consequences. Without sufficient housing and services, rapid growth can place additional pressure on both existing communities and the people arriving.
With Melbourne adding more than 105,000 residents in just one year — and overseas migration accounting for the largest single component of that increase — the debate is increasingly shifting from whether Melbourne will continue growing to whether governments can keep up with that growth.