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 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 theCOVID-19 pandemic and associated economic slowdown.[2]
Melbourne has the10th 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 wereIndigenous 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]
Although Victoria's net interstate migration has fluctuated, the Melbourne statistical division was growing by approximately 50,000 people a year in 2003. Until 2020, Melbourne had attracted the largest proportion of international overseas immigrants (48,000) finding it outpacing Sydney's international migrant intake, along with having strong interstate migration from Sydney and other capitals due to more affordable housing and cost of living, which have been two recent key factors driving Melbourne's growth.[30][31]
Melbourne's population density declined following theSecond World War, with the privatemotor car and the lures of space and property ownership causing a suburban sprawl, mainly eastward. After much discussion both at general public and planning levels in the 1980s, the decline has reversed since the recession of the early 1990s.
The city has seen increased density in the inner and western suburbs. Since the 1970s, Victorian Government planning blueprints, such asPostcode 3000 andMelbourne 2030, have aimed to curtail theurban sprawl.[32][33]
Melbourne's Chinatown, established in 1854, is the oldest in Australia and one of the oldest in the world
The first European settlers in Melbourne wereBritish andIrish. These two groups accounted for nearly all arrivals before the gold rush, and supplied mostimmigrants to the city until theSecond World War.
Melbourne was transformed by the 1850sgold rush; within months of the discovery ofgold in August 1852, the city's population had increased by nearly three-quarters, from 25,000 to 40,000 inhabitants.[34] Thereafter, growth was exponential and by 1865, Melbourne had overtaken Sydney as Australia's most populous city.[35]
ManyChinese,German andAmerican nationals were to be found on the goldfields and subsequently in Melbourne. The various nationalities involved in theEureka Stockade revolt nearby give some indication of the migration flows in the second half of the nineteenth century.[36]
In 2018, the population of the Melbourne metropolitan area was 4,963,349.[37]
Although Victoria's net interstate migration has fluctuated, the population of the Melbourne statistical division has grown by about 70,000 people a year since 2005. Until 2020, Melbourne had attracted the largest proportion of international overseas immigrants (48,000) finding it outpacing Sydney's international migrant intake on percentage, along with having strong interstate migration from Sydney and other capitals due to more affordable housing and cost of living.[38]
In recent years,Melton,Wyndham andCasey, part of the Melbourne statistical division, recorded the highest growth rate of alllocal government areas in Australia.
After a trend of declining population density since World War II, the city has seen increased density in the inner andwestern suburbs, aided in part by Victorian Government planning, such asPostcode 3000 andMelbourne 2030, which have aimed to curtail urban sprawl.[32][39] As of 2018, the CBD is the most densely populated area in Australia with more than 19,000 residents per square kilometre, and the inner city suburbs ofCarlton,South Yarra,Fitzroy andCollingwood make up Victoria's top five.[40]
As of the 2021 census, 59.6% of Melburnians speak only English at home.[45]Mandarin (4.6%),Vietnamese (2.5%),Greek (2.2%),Punjabi (2.0%), andArabic (1.9%) are the most common foreign languages spoken at home by residents of Melbourne.[45]
As a result of large migrant populations, Melbourne has a proliferation of areas where restaurants, cafes and services of similar international demographic establish, particularly Chinese, Indian, Thai, Vietnamese and Malaysian cuisines. Some of these areas include:
Lonsdale Street, Top End, Melbourne CBD – Greek cuisine
Lygon Street, Southern End, Carlton – Italian cuisine (Little Italy)
Sydney Road, Coburg/Brunswick – Lebanese and Turkish (Little Lebanon)
Johnston Street, western end, Fitzroy – Spanish/Latin-American
Caulfield & North Caulfield – Kosher Jewish cuisine
Oakleigh – Greek cuisine
Little Bourke Street, eastern end, Melbourne city – Chinese and East Asian cuisine (Chinatown)
Central Box Hill – Chinese and East Asian cuisine
Koornang Road, Carnegie – Korean cuisine
Central Footscray – Vietnamese, Sudanese and Chinese
Robinson, Walker and Foster streets, Dandenong – Indian (Little India)
Thomas Street, Dandenong – Afghan (Afghan Bazaar)
Central Springvale – Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Cambodian
Glen Waverley/Doncaster – Chinese, Malaysian and Sri Lankan cuisines
Victoria Street, Abbotsford/Richmond – Chinese, Vietnamese (Little Saigon)
Areas notable for large variety of mixed cuisine – Dandenong, St Kilda, Ormond, Brunswick, Melbourne CBD
The 2006 Census records show some 28.3% (1,018,113) of Melbourne residents list their religious affiliation asCatholic.[48] The next highest responses wereNo Religion (20.0%, 717,717),Anglican (12.1%, 433,546),Eastern Orthodox (5.9%, 212,887) and theUniting Church (4.0%, 143,552).[48]Buddhists,Muslims,Jews andHindus collectively account for 7.5% of the population.
In 1848, the first large group ofBuddhists to come to Australia came as part ofgold rush. The great majority stayed briefly for prospecting purposes rather than as permanent settlers. In 1856, a temple was established inSouth Melbourne by theSze Yap group. The first specific Australian Buddhist group, the Buddhist Study Group Melbourne, was formed in Melbourne in 1938 but ended a short time later during theSecond World War.[49]
The largest religious group isChristianity. 64% of people from Melbourne consider themselves Christians[citation needed] but this is subdivided into a number of denominations of which over half are members of the Roman Catholic Church, followed by the Anglican, Eastern Orthodox and the Uniting churches. The city has two largecathedrals,St Patrick's (Roman Catholic),[50] andSt Paul's (Anglican).[51] Both were built in theVictorian era and are of considerable heritage significance as major landmarks of the city.[52]
The majority of Australian Hindus live along theEastern Coast ofAustralia and are mainly located in Melbourne andSydney. They have established a number oftemples and other spiritual meeting places and celebrate mostHindu festivals.[53]
There are approximately 500,000Muslims living in Australia with over 100,000 settled inMelbourne. They are noted for their diversity with heritages from more than 60 countries.[54][55]The first Muslims to settle permanently in Australia were the cameleers, mainly from Afghanistan from as early as the 1860s.
Four out of tenAustralian Jews call Melbourne home. The city is also residence to the largest number ofHolocaust survivors of any Australian city,[56] indeed the highest per capita concentration outsideIsrael itself.[57] To service the needs of the vibrant Jewish community, Melbourne'sJewry have established multiplesynagogues, which today number over 30,[58] along with alocal Jewish newspaper.[59] Melbourne's largestuniversity–Monash University is named after prominent Jewish general and statesman,John Monash.[60]
Sikhism is a small but growing minority religion in Australia, that can trace its origins in the nation back to the 1830s. The Sikhs form one of the largest subgroups of Indian Australians with 125,000 adherents according to the 2016 census, having grown from 17,000 in 2001 and 12,000 in 1996[1] [2]. Most adherents can trace their ancestry back to the Punjab region of India.Whereas, as per anecdotal evidence collected by Sikh Council of Australia Inc., there are approximately 100,000 Sikhs in Australia and the number of Punjabi speakers is even higher.They are often mistaken for who they are not, due to Sikh men required to wear a "Turban" as one of the 5 articles of faith.The largest Sikh communities are situated on the Eastern Sea Board, Melbourne, Sydney,Brisbane, followed byAdelaide, Perth,Canberra,Cairns,Townsville. Sikhs also make up a significant population in the town of Woolgoolga near Coffs Harbour, NSW where they own Banana Plantations. There is also a significant Sikh population in Griffith, NSW and Renmark SA, associated with Farming. Kahlon Estate's in Renmark which produce Australia's Premium Wines are owned by Sikh emigrants.
Melbourne, like the rest of Australia, is partially irreligious, with the proportion of people identifying themselves asChristian declining from 96% in 1901 to 64% in 2006 and those who did not state their religion or declared no religion rising from 2% to over 30% over the same period.[61]
Darker green indicate areas of higher household incomes. Suburbs immediately east of the centre tend to be more affluent
Areas within the Greater Melbourne area host varying groups of socio-economic background, inner city areas tend to be more affluent, gentrified or bohemian, suburban areas tend to house middle class residents, whilst outer suburban areas tend to house lower income residents.
Other points of note include increased property prices in public transport corridors, leading to many of these areas, particularly in the inner east, being more affluent.
^In accordance with the Australian Bureau of Statistics source,England,Scotland,Mainland China and the Special Administrative Regions ofHong Kong andMacau are listed separately.
^As a percentage of 4,652,326 persons who nominated their ancestry at the 2021 census.
^The Australian Bureau of Statistics has stated that most who nominate "Australian" as their ancestry are part of theAnglo-Celtic group.[43]
^Of any ancestry. Includes those identifying asAboriginal Australians orTorres Strait Islanders. Indigenous identification is separate to the ancestry question on the Australian Census and persons identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander may identify any ancestry.
^"2011 Census QuickStats".quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 28 March 2013. Archived fromthe original on 8 October 2021. Retrieved8 October 2021.
^"2016 Census QuickStats".quickstats.censusdata.abs.gov.au. Australian Bureau of Statistics. 30 October 2020. Archived fromthe original on 22 June 2020. Retrieved8 October 2021.
^Maher, C.A. Division of National Mapping and the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ed.).Melbourne – a social atlas [cartographic material]. Vol. 3 (Atlas of population and housing, 1981 census ed.). Canberra : Division of National Mapping and Australian Bureau of Statistics in association with the Institute of Australian Geographers, 1984.ISBN0-642-51634-0.
^Victoria. Dept. of Infrastructure (ed.).Report of the Advisory Committee on the Victoria planning provisions (VPPs) / Minister for and Local Government. [Melbourne] : Minister for Planning and Local Government, 1998.
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