The statistic shows the ten largest cities in Australia in 2021. In 2021, around 5.26 million people lived in Sydney and the surrounding area, making it the most populous city in Australia.

In 2023, approximately 988,943 people lived in Stockholm, making it not only the capital, but also the biggest city in Sweden. The second biggest city, Gothenburg (Göteborg) had about half as many inhabitants, with about 596,840 people. Move to the citySweden is a country with a very high urbanization rate, the likes of which is usually only seen in countries with large uninhabitable areas, such as Australia, or in nations with very little rural landscape and agrarian structures, like Cuba. So why do so few Swedes live in rural areas, even though based on total area, the country is one of the largest in Europe? The total population figures are the answer to this question, as Sweden has only about 10.3 million inhabitants as of 2018 – that’s only 25 inhabitants per square kilometer. Rural exodus or just par for the course?It is no mystery why most Swedes flock to the cities: Jobs, of course. Over 65 percent of Sweden’s gross domestic product is generated by the services sector, and agriculture only contributes about one percent to the GDP. Employment mirrors this, with 80 percent of the workforce being deployed in services, namely in foreign trade, telecommunications, and manufacturing, among other industries.

Sydney reigns as Australia's most-visited destination among international tourists, welcoming over *** million visitors in 2024. This popularity extends beyond foreign travelers, as Sydney also topped the lists for domestic overnight and day trip visitors, solidifying its status as the country's tourism powerhouse. The city's appeal spans various traveler segments, from holidaymakers to business visitors. Tourism sector revival in Australia Australia’s tourism industry has shown resilience and recovery following the COVID-19 pandemic. While international visitor numbers to Australia plummeted in 2020 and 2021, they rebounded significantly in 2024, surpassing ***** million, approximately **** million less than the peak visitor influx witnessed in 2019. This upturn reflects a gradual return to pre-pandemic levels, with vacations and visiting friends and relatives emerging as the primary reasons for international travel to Australia. Domestic tourism has also played a crucial role in the sector's recovery, with around *** million domestic overnight visitors recorded in 2024. Where are Australia's tourism hotspots? Beyond Sydney, other major cities and coastal regions attract substantial visitor numbers. Melbourne, Brisbane, Perth, and the Gold Coast round out the top five destinations for international tourists. New South Wales, home to Sydney, captured over a third of all international visitor nights across the country’s states and territories in 2024, highlighting the state's dominance in the tourism market. Victoria followed as the second most popular state, likely due to its concentration of visitor attractions, such as the Great Ocean Road. In terms of domestic tourism, Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane alongside the New South Wales North Coast and South Coast comprise the most popular destinations among locals taking overnight trips.

Data for the ACT is (C) Access canberra and licenced for reuse under the CC By 4.0 International, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Data for NSW was provided by the Office of Environment and Heritage, NSW Government.

Data for the Northern Territory was sourced from the Northern Territory Environment Protection Authority.

Data for Queensland was provided by the State of Queensland, Department of Science, Information Technology and Innovation.

Data for South Australia was created and supplied by the Environment Protection Authority, SA.

Data for Tasmania was provided by EPA Tasmania, DPIPWE.

Data for Victoria was provided by the Environment Protection Authority Victoria.

Data for Western Australia was provided by the Western Australian Department of Environment Regulation.

Data used to produce Figure ATM34 of SoE 2016. See https://soe.environment.gov.au/theme/ambient-air-quality/topic/2016/fine-particulate-matter-pm25#ambient-air-quality-figure-ATM34

Sydney had the highest median house value compared to other capital cities in Australia as of April 2025, with a value of over **** million Australian dollars. Brisbane similarly had relatively high average residential housing values, passing Canberra and Melbourne to top the pricing markets for real estate across the country alongside Sydney. Housing affordability in Australia Throughout 2024, the average price of residential dwellings remained high across Australia, with several capital cities breaking price records. Rising house prices continue to be an issue for potential homeowners, with many low- and middle-income earners priced out of the market. In the fourth quarter of 2024, Australia’s house price-to-income ratio declined slightly to ***** index points. With the share of household income spent on mortgage repayments increasing alongside the disparity in supply and demand, inflating construction costs, and low borrowing capacity, the homeownership dream has become an unattainable prospect for the average person in Australia. Does the rental market offer better prospects? Renting for prolonged periods has become inevitable for many Australians due to the country’s largely inaccessible property ladder. However, record low vacancy rates and elevated median weekly house and unit rent prices within Australia’s rental market are making renting a less appealing prospect. In financial year 2024, households in the Greater Sydney metropolitan area reported spending around ** percent of their household income on rent.

Abstract

Polluted air is a major health hazard in developing countries. Improvements in pollution monitoring and statistical techniques during the last several decades have steadily enhanced the ability to measure the health effects of air pollution. Current methods can detect significant increases in the incidence of cardiopulmonary and respiratory diseases, coughing, bronchitis, and lung cancer, as well as premature deaths from these diseases resulting from elevated concentrations of ambient Particulate Matter (Holgate 1999).

Scarce public resources have limited the monitoring of atmospheric particulate matter (PM) concentrations in developing countries, despite their large potential health effects. As a result, policymakers in many developing countries remain uncertain about the exposure of their residents to PM air pollution. The Global Model of Ambient Particulates (GMAPS) is an attempt to bridge this information gap through an econometrically estimated model for predicting PM levels in world cities (Pandey et al. forthcoming).

The estimation model is based on the latest available monitored PM pollution data from the World Health Organization, supplemented by data from other reliable sources. The current model can be used to estimate PM levels in urban residential areas and non-residential pollution hotspots. The results of the model are used to project annual average ambient PM concentrations for residential and non-residential areas in 3,226 world cities with populations larger than 100,000, as well as national capitals.

The study finds wide, systematic variations in ambient PM concentrations, both across world cities and over time. PM concentrations have risen at a slower rate than total emissions. Overall emission levels have been rising, especially for poorer countries, at nearly 6 percent per year. PM concentrations have not increased by as much, due to improvements in technology and structural shifts in the world economy. Additionally, within-country variations in PM levels can diverge greatly (by a factor of 5 in some cases), because of the direct and indirect effects of geo-climatic factors.

The primary determinants of PM concentrations are the scale and composition of economic activity, population, the energy mix, the strength of local pollution regulation, and geographic and atmospheric conditions that affect pollutant dispersion in the atmosphere.

Geographic coverage

The database covers the following countries: Afghanistan Albania Algeria Andorra Angola
Antigua and Barbuda Argentina
Armenia Australia
Austria Azerbaijan
Bahamas, The
Bahrain Bangladesh
Barbados
Belarus Belgium Belize
Benin
Bhutan
Bolivia Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil
Brunei
Bulgaria
Burkina Faso
Burundi Cambodia
Cameroon
Canada
Cayman Islands
Central African Republic
Chad
Chile
China
Colombia
Comoros Congo, Dem. Rep.
Congo, Rep. Costa Rica
Cote d'Ivoire
Croatia Cuba
Cyprus
Czech Republic
Denmark Dominica
Dominican Republic
Ecuador Egypt, Arab Rep.
El Salvador Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia
Faeroe Islands
Fiji
Finland France
Gabon
Gambia, The Georgia Germany Ghana
Greece
Grenada Guatemala
Guinea
Guinea-Bissau
Guyana
Haiti
Honduras
Hong Kong, China
Hungary Iceland India
Indonesia
Iran, Islamic Rep.
Iraq
Ireland Israel
Italy
Jamaica Japan
Jordan
Kazakhstan
Kenya
Korea, Dem. Rep.
Korea, Rep. Kuwait
Kyrgyz Republic Lao PDR Latvia
Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Liechtenstein
Lithuania
Luxembourg
Macao, China
Macedonia, FYR
Madagascar
Malawi
Malaysia
Maldives
Mali
Mauritania
Mexico
Moldova Mongolia
Morocco Mozambique
Myanmar Namibia Nepal
Netherlands Netherlands Antilles
New Caledonia
New Zealand Nicaragua
Niger
Nigeria Norway
Oman
Pakistan
Panama
Papua New Guinea
Paraguay
Peru
Philippines Poland
Portugal
Puerto Rico Qatar
Romania Russian Federation
Rwanda
Sao Tome and Principe
Saudi Arabia
Senegal Sierra Leone
Singapore
Slovak Republic Slovenia
Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa
Spain
Sri Lanka
St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia
St. Vincent and the Grenadines
Sudan
Suriname
Swaziland
Sweden
Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic
Tajikistan
Tanzania
Thailand
Togo
Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey
Turkmenistan
Uganda
Ukraine United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States
Uruguay Uzbekistan
Vanuatu Venezuela, RB
Vietnam Virgin Islands (U.S.)
Yemen, Rep. Yugoslavia, FR (Serbia/Montenegro)
Zambia
Zimbabwe

Kind of data

Observation data/ratings [obs]

Mode of data collection

Other [oth]

Since the 1960s, Australia's urbanization rate has consistently been above 80 percent, and in 2024 it has reached its highest ever rate at 86.75 percent. Historically, Australia has been one of the most urbanized countries in the world, due to high rates of immigration since the 20th century, which were generally to coastal, urban areas. However, despite its high urbanization rate, Australia is among the largest countries in the world; therefore its population density is among the lowest in the world.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Brisbane, Australia metro area from 1950 to 2025.

Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Sydney, Australia metro area from 1950 to 2025.

Key information about House Prices Growth

• Australia house prices grew 2.9% YoY in Dec 2024, following an increase of 5.8% YoY in the previous quarter.
• YoY growth data is updated quarterly, available from Sep 2004 to Dec 2024, with an average growth rate of 5.8%.
• House price data reached an all-time high of 24.1% in Dec 2021 and a record low of -6.1% in Mar 2019.

CEIC calculates quarterly House Price Index Growth from quarterly Residential Dwellings: Mean Price of Eight Capital Cities. The Australian Bureau of Statistics provides Residential Dwellings: Mean Price of Eight Capital Cities in local currency. House Price Index Growth prior to Q3 2012 is calculated from Residential Property Price Index: Weighted Average of Eight Capital Cities.

This dataset is part of the Geographical repository maintained by Opendatasoft. This dataset contains data for Local Government Areas in Australia.The ASGS Local Government Areas are an ABS approximation of gazetted local government boundaries as defined by each State and Territory Local Government Department. Local Government Areas cover incorporated areas of Australia. Incorporated areas are legally designated parts of a State or Territory over which incorporated local governing bodies have responsibility. The major areas of Australia not administered by incorporated bodies are the northern parts of South Australia, and all of the Australian Capital Territory and the Other Territories. These regions are identified as ‘Unincorporated’ in the ASGS Local Government Areas structure.More information on local governments can be found at the Australian Local Government Association website: http://www.alga.asn.au The suffix on Long Official Name Local Government Area indicates the Local Government Area status: Cities (C), Areas (A), Rural Cities (RC), Boroughs (B), Shires (S), Towns (T), Regional Councils (R), Municipalities/Municipal Councils (M), District Councils (DC), Regional Councils (RegC), Aboriginal Councils (AC).Processors and tools are using this data.EnhancementsAdd ISO 3166-3 codes.Simplify geometries to provide better performance across the services.

In June 2022, it was estimated that around 7.3 percent of Australians were aged between 25 and 29, and the same applied to people aged between 30 and 34. All in all, about 55 percent of Australia’s population was aged 35 years or older as of June 2022. At the same time, the age distribution of the country also shows that the share of children under 14 years old was still higher than that of people over 65 years old. A breakdown of Australia’s population growth Australia is the sixth-largest country in the world, yet with a population of around 26 million inhabitants, it is only sparsely populated. Since the 1970s, the population growth of Australia has remained fairly constant. While there was a slight rise in the Australian death rate in 2022, the birth rate of the country decreased after a slight rise in the previous year. The fact that the birth rate is almost double the size of its death rate gives the country one of the highest natural population growth rates of any high-income country.
National distribution of the population Australia’s population is expected to surpass 28 million people by 2028. The majority of its inhabitants live in the major cities. The most populated states are New South Wales, Victoria, and Queensland. Together, they account for over 75 percent of the population in Australia.

The statistic shows the total population of Australia from 1980 to 2023, with projections up until 2030. In 2023, Australia had a total population of about 26.95 million people. Population of Australia Australia is among the ten largest countries in the world, in terms of area size, although its total population is low in relation to this. Much of Australia’s interior remains uninhabited, as the majority of Australians live in coastal metropolises and cities. Most of the population is of European descent (predominantly British), although there is a growing share of the population with Asian heritage; only a small percentage belongs to the indigenous Aboriginal population. Australia's year-on-year population growth is fairly high compared to most other economically and demographically advanced nations, due to comparatively high rates of natural increase and immigration. Living standards Standard of living is fairly high in Australia, which can be seen when looking at the Human Development Index, which ranks countries by their level of human development and living standards, such as their unemployment rate, literacy rate, or life expectancy at birth. Life expectancy of Australia’s population is quite high in international comparison, for example, Australia is also among the leading countries when it comes to this key factor. Economically speaking, Australia is also among the leading nations, with a steadily rising employment rate, an increasing gross domestic product (GDP) with a steady growth rate, and a relatively stable share in the global GDP.

The rent price index in Australia in the first quarter of 2025 was *****, marking an increase from the same quarter of the previous year. Rent prices had decreased in 2020; in Melbourne and Sydney, this was mainly attributed to the absence of international students during the coronavirus outbreak. The current state of the rental market in Australia The rental market in Australia has been marked by varying conditions across different regions. Among the capital cities, Sydney has long been recognized for having some of the highest average rents. As of March 2025, the average weekly rent for a house in Sydney was *** Australian dollars, which was the highest average rent across all major cities in Australia that year. Furthermore, due to factors like population growth and housing demand, regional areas have also seen noticeable increases in rental prices. For instance, households in the non-metropolitan area of New South Wales’ expenditure on rent was around ** percent of their household income in the year ending June 2024. Housing affordability in Australia Housing affordability remains a significant challenge in Australia, contributing to a trend where many individuals and families rent for prolonged periods. The underlying cause of this issue is the ongoing disparity between household wages and housing costs, especially in large cities. While renting offers several advantages, it is worth noting that the associated costs may not always align with the expectation of affordability. Approximately one-third of participants in a recent survey stated that they pay between ** and ** percent of their monthly income on rent. Recent government initiatives, such as the 2024 Help to Buy scheme, aim to make it easier for people across Australia to get onto the property ladder. Still, the multifaceted nature of Australia’s housing affordability problem requires continued efforts to strike a balance between market dynamics and the need for accessible housing options for Australians.

As of September 2024, the average rental yield of houses in Sydney, New South Wales, was 2.98 percent. In Darwin, the rental yield for houses measured 6.27 percent, which was the highest across all Australian capital cities during that quarter.

As of December 2024, the areas with the highest daily rate for a hotel room in Australia were the Gold Coast and Sydney, with average daily rates of *** Australian dollars, respectively. Brisbane's average daily hotel room rate was just over *** Australian dollars. The city or region with the lowest daily rate for a hotel room was Canberra, with an average daily rate of *** Australian dollars.

As of December 2024, the hotel landscape in Sydney, Australia revealed a strong concentration of upscale and upper upscale accommodations, with almost ** percent of hotels falling into this category. In comparison, luxury hotels comprised only *** percent of Sydney's total hotels. This dominance of higher-end lodgings reflects Sydney's status as a premier destination for both business and leisure travelers. How does Sydney's hotel landscape compare with other Australian capital cities? While Sydney leads in upscale offerings, other major Australian cities show diverse hotel distributions. Melbourne, for instance, has a more balanced hotel mix, with nearly ** percent upscale and upper upscale hotels, complemented by almost ** percent luxury accommodations, and around ** percent midscale and upper midscale hotels. This variety caters to a wider range of visitor preferences and budgets. Brisbane stands out with almost ** percent of its hotels in the luxury category, indicating a strong focus on ultra-high-end tourism. These variations highlight the unique positioning of each city in Australia's competitive tourism market. Travel booking trends Despite challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Australia's tourism and travel accommodation sectors show signs of recovery. Hotels and flight tickets emerged as the most popular travel product bookings among Australians in a 2024 survey, indicating a resurgence in both domestic and international travel. Booking.com remained the top choice for online hotel reservations among Australian consumers in a 2024 survey, followed by Airbnb. As the industry rebounds, the diverse hotel offerings across Australian cities are well-positioned to cater to a diverse range of traveler preferences and budgets.

Based on a comparison of coronavirus deaths in 210 countries relative to their population, Peru had the most losses to COVID-19 up until July 13, 2022. As of the same date, the virus had infected over 557.8 million people worldwide, and the number of deaths had totaled more than 6.3 million. Note, however, that COVID-19 test rates can vary per country. Additionally, big differences show up between countries when combining the number of deaths against confirmed COVID-19 cases. The source seemingly does not differentiate between "the Wuhan strain" (2019-nCOV) of COVID-19, "the Kent mutation" (B.1.1.7) that appeared in the UK in late 2020, the 2021 Delta variant (B.1.617.2) from India or the Omicron variant (B.1.1.529) from South Africa.

The difficulties of death figures

This table aims to provide a complete picture on the topic, but it very much relies on data that has become more difficult to compare. As the coronavirus pandemic developed across the world, countries already used different methods to count fatalities, and they sometimes changed them during the course of the pandemic. On April 16, for example, the Chinese city of Wuhan added a 50 percent increase in their death figures to account for community deaths. These deaths occurred outside of hospitals and went unaccounted for so far. The state of New York did something similar two days before, revising their figures with 3,700 new deaths as they started to include “assumed” coronavirus victims. The United Kingdom started counting deaths in care homes and private households on April 29, adjusting their number with about 5,000 new deaths (which were corrected lowered again by the same amount on August 18). This makes an already difficult comparison even more difficult. Belgium, for example, counts suspected coronavirus deaths in their figures, whereas other countries have not done that (yet). This means two things. First, it could have a big impact on both current as well as future figures. On April 16 already, UK health experts stated that if their numbers were corrected for community deaths like in Wuhan, the UK number would change from 205 to “above 300”. This is exactly what happened two weeks later. Second, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly which countries already have “revised” numbers (like Belgium, Wuhan or New York) and which ones do not. One work-around could be to look at (freely accessible) timelines that track the reported daily increase of deaths in certain countries. Several of these are available on our platform, such as for Belgium, Italy and Sweden. A sudden large increase might be an indicator that the domestic sources changed their methodology.

Where are these numbers coming from?

The numbers shown here were collected by Johns Hopkins University, a source that manually checks the data with domestic health authorities. For the majority of countries, this is from national authorities. In some cases, like China, the United States, Canada or Australia, city reports or other various state authorities were consulted. In this statistic, these separately reported numbers were put together. For more information or other freely accessible content, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

As of December 2024, the hotel landscape in Melbourne, Australia showcased a diverse range of accommodations, with upscale and upper upscale hotels dominating the market at around ** percent. The luxury hotels category followed, accounting for almost ** percent of hotels in the city. Differing hotel landscapes across Australian cities While Melbourne boasts a more balanced mix of hotel categories, several other Australian cities present distinct profiles. Sydney, for instance, has an even stronger focus on upscale and upper upscale accommodations, with almost ** percent of its hotels falling into this category. In contrast, Adelaide stands out with a high proportion of luxury hotels, accounting for almost ** percent of its total. Perth, similar to Melbourne, has a high concentration of upscale and upper upscale hotels but differs with a larger midscale and upper midscale segment at around ** percent. These variations highlight the diverse strategies employed by different Australian cities to cater to various traveler preferences and market segments. Fostering hotel loyalty As the Australian hospitality industry recovers from the impacts of COVID-19, hotel loyalty programs play a crucial role in attracting and retaining customers. The Accor Live Limitless/Plus rewards scheme leads as the most popular hotel loyalty program among Australians, followed by Hilton Honors and IHG One Rewards. When it comes to hotel reward scheme benefits, Australian consumers are most enticed by complimentary breakfasts and room upgrades, with around ** percent of respondents valuing these perks, respectively. Other highly desired benefits include discounted stays, early check-in, and late check-out options.

Australia's café and restaurant scene continues to thrive, with New South Wales leading the way with over 19,225 establishments in operation at the end of the 2024 financial year. The second-leading state in terms of the number of cafés and restaurants was Victoria. As Australia's two largest states in terms of population, the concentration of food service establishments in New South Wales and Victoria mirrors Australia's population distribution, reflecting the urban-centric nature of the country's café and restaurant landscape. Gastronomy: a key economic sector In recent years, the number of cafés and restaurants throughout the country has shown relatively consistent growth, exceeding 55,700 in the 2024 financial year, up from approximately 41,570 in 2017. Australia's cafés, restaurants, and takeaway food services turnover experienced steady annual increases for many years up until the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, since 2021, the industry's revenue has been on the recovery, hitting a record of over 65 billion Australian dollars in 2024. Additionally, food services represent a key source of gross value added to the tourism industry. An added boost from coffee Coffee plays an important role in the Australian food service sector, with the beverage topping the list of regularly consumed drinks among Australians in a 2024 survey. Several international chains like McCafé operate alongside popular domestic coffee franchises, including The Coffee Club, in the country. Alongside this, the country's annual domestic coffee consumption remains robust, consistently exceeding two million sixty-kilogram bags in recent years, underscoring the enduring nature of Australia's coffee culture. Nonetheless, recent cost-of-living pressures have led to a shift in consumer behavior, with more Australians opting to brew their coffee at home.