Melburnians are growing in numbers with the Victorian city climbing to the top of the charts for the fastest growing population in the country.

About 167,500 people moved to the city between 2022 and 2023, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The rivalry between Melbourne and Sydney continued with the latter taking a close second with about 146,700 new residents.

In third place was Perth, which saw a jump in population of roughly 81,300 new residents, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) annual report on regional populations released on Wednesday.

Overall, more than half-a-million people moved into the nation’s cities by September 2023 – a 3 per cent boost.

Australia’s population has grown by 2.5 per cent to 26.8 million people as more newcomers settled in by September 2023, earlier figures showed.

In the Sunshine State, Brisbane came fourth in the ranks after having the largest growth in population in the 2021-2022 report.

Only 81,220 people moved to Brisbane between 2022 and 2023, the ABS found.

Growth in the nation’s capital cities was largely fueled by overseas migration with more than 450,000 newcomers.

Births boosted the population with more than 89,000 babies welcomed into the world.

Despite Melbourne’s significant increase, Perth held the title for the highest growth rate at 3.6 per cent – Melbourne coming to a close second at 3.3 per cent.

Regional parts of Australia grew by 1.4 per cent with more than 117,000 people moving further inland.

Belad Al-karkhey
(Australian Associated Press)