Thousands leave Sydney and Melbourne for Perth, Brisbane and Regional Australia

02 April 2026

Internal net migration analysis by KPMG shows Australians are deserting the country’s largest capitals with more than 33,000 leaving Sydney and 8,500 exiting Melbourne as of June 2025. 

The benefactors of the migration shift are Brisbane which saw net internal migration add 11,000 people to the local population in 2024-25. On the west coast Perth added 8,000 residents from interstate and across Australia non-capital cities saw a rapid increase of over 29,000. 

The country’s other major capitals, Adelaide, Hobart, Darwin and Canberra all saw small net internal migration losses. 

“We are seeing a broader shift away from many of the country’s capital cities as internal migration patterns continue to be dictated by affordable housing,” said KPMG Urban Economist, Terry Rawnsley. 

Despite internal migration losses, Australia's capital cities still collectively experienced a population increase of almost 325,000 people in 2024–25, representing a growth rate of 1.8% that was largely driven by overseas migration. 

Melbourne experienced the highest population increase, welcoming 105,000 new residents, followed by Sydney, which saw its population grow by just over 75,000.

As main international gateways to the country, Sydney and Melbourne take in the most overseas migrants which helps drive population growth explains Terry Rawnsley. 

“If you take away overseas migration Melbourne has much milder growth from natural births while Sydney’s population would actual go backwards,” says Mr Rawnsley.  

“The gap between Sydney and Melbourne has narrowed to just over 200,000 from over 350,000 a decade ago. This clear trend shows Melbourne is moving towards becoming the most populous city in the country.

“This narrowing is in a large part because Melbourne is winning the housing supply race against Sydney making it a more affordable city that is able to retain more workers.” 

“Melbourne and Sydney are roughly the same size in terms of population, but over the past year Melbourne has approved about 24% more homes than Sydney,” Mr Rawnsley added.

Perth was the fastest growing city with a 2.4% population increase adding nearly 58,100 new residents. Brisbane was close behind at 2.1% growth adding over 58,200 residents. 

“Brisbane and Perth are attracting workers with their strong economic activity and lifestyle benefits. The challenge for both cities’ will be that their rapid growth will diminish some of the advantages that made them so attractive in the first place, like cheaper housing,” said Mr Rawnsley. 

Components of population change 2024-25

^{Source: KPMG analysis of ABS Regional Population}

^{Note: Growth excludes Other Territories}

Fastest growing suburbs in Australia

Australia’s fastest growing suburbs are dominated by locations in Melbourne and Sydney’s greenfield growth corridors with Melbourne’s Rockbank-Mount Cotrell seeing the strongest growth with an extra 4,600 people heading to the area.

Sydney’s Northwest Box Hill – Nelson was the fastest growing Sydney suburb with 3,900 new residents, while Ripley located to the south of Ipswich, was the only Queensland suburb in the top ten with a growth of over 3,100 residents. 

These growth patterns show that greenfield housing developments continue to be the driving force of affordable housing in cities compared to townhouses or apartments. 

“We are seeing significant policy actions being undertaken by state governments to unlock more housing and encourage population growth in middle-ring and inner suburbs. However, it will take time to shift this rapid population growth away from greenfield areas,” said Mr Rawnsley. 

Australia's fastest growing suburbs 2024-25

^{Source: KPMG analysis of ABS Regional Population}