Demographics of Melbourne

Geographic distribution of the main ethno-cultural communities of Melbourne according to the 2016 census.[1]
Chart of Melbourne's current and projected population growth

Melbourne is Australia's second-most populous city and has a diverse and multicultural population.

Melbourne dominated Australia's population growth for the 15th year in a row as of 2017, adding 125,424 people between 2016 and 2017, and boomed past 5 million people in 2019. Population growth is however projected to significantly decline as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated economic slowdown.[2]

Melbourne has the 10th largest immigrant population among world metropolitan areas. In the 2021 census, 58.8% of residents were born in Australia.[3] Melbourne is home to residents from 200 countries and territories, who speak over 233 languages and dialects and follow 116 religious faiths.

The earliest known inhabitants of the broad area that later became known as Melbourne were Indigenous Australians – specifically, at the time of European settlement, the Bunurong, Wurundjeri and Wathaurong tribal groups. Melbourne is still a centre of Aboriginal life — consisting of local groups and indigenous groups from other parts of Australia, as most indigenous Victorians were displaced from their traditional lands during colonization – with the Aboriginal community in the city numbering over 20,000 persons (0.6% of the population).[4]

  1. ^ ""Census of Population and Housing - Cultural Diversity, 2016, TableBuilder"". Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
  2. ^ "Coronavirus Australia: Sydney, Melbourne could suffer long-term damage from COVID-19". 30 August 2020.
  3. ^ "ABS Australia".
  4. ^ VicNet — Strategy for Aboriginal Managed Land in Victoria: Draft Report Archived 2008-10-01 at the Wayback Machine [Part 1-Section 2]