Demographics of Canberra

Canberra is Australia's capital and its largest inland city. At the 2021 census, it had 452,670 residents.^[1] This amounted to 1.8% of Australia's population.

At the 2021 census, 32.5% of Canberra's population were born overseas, a large majority of which were born in Asia and Europe. The top three overseas countries of birth were India, England and China.^[1]

The estimated population for Canberra as of 2021 was 452,670, constituting 223,365 males and 229,301 females.^[1] The 2021 unemployment rate was around 3.8%.^[1]

Canberra and ACT population density by mesh blocks (MB), according to the 2016 census

History

The first few decades after the establishment of Canberra growth was relatively slow due to low funds after World War I. The population was nearly 2000 at the time. Until the end of World War II development was completely put on hold due to the Great Depression.

Office development accelerated rapidly in the 1960s in Civic. From 1960 - 1971, the population tripled from 50,000 inhabitants to 146,000 and climbing to 203,000 in 1976. The Australian economy went into recession in 1975, and a year later the construction industries in Canberra collapsed.

In modern times, growth slowed between 1996 and 2001. But the city now experiences annual growth of over 1 per cent.^[2]

Population of the ACT

Year	Pop.	±%
1911	1,777	—
1921	2,583	+45.4%
1933	8,947	+246.4%
1947	16,905	+88.9%
1954	30,315	+79.3%
1961	58,828	+94.1%
1966	96,032	+63.2%
1971	151,169	+57.4%
1976	207,740	+37.4%
1981	227,581	+9.6%
1986	258,910	+13.8%
1991	289,320	+11.7%
1996	308,251	+6.5%
2001	307,053	−0.4%
2006	322,036	+4.9%
2011	357,222	+10.9%
2016	397,397	+11.2%
2021	453,890	+14.2%
Source: Censuses[3][4][5][6][7]

Populations by district

Most of Canberra's growth since 1991 has taken place in Gungahlin.

Population of Canberra districts	1991[8]	1996	2001	2006	2011	2016	2021
North Canberra	40,249	38,818	38,585	43,757	48,030[9]	53,002[10]	61,188[11]
South Canberra	22,371	22,730	23,324	24,581	24,154[12]	27,007[13]	31,592[14]
Belconnen	89,519	85,659	81,701	87,246	92,444[15]	96,049[16]	106,061[17]
Woden Valley	33,921	33,043	32,494	31,992	32,958[18]	34,760[19]	39,279[20]
Weston Creek	27,268	24,879	23,662	22,886	22,746[21]	22,988[22]	24,630[23]
Tuggeranong	74,412	90,104	90,875	89,666	86,900[24]	85,154[25]	89,461[26]
Gungahlin	455	12,684	24,398	32,550	47,303 [27]	71,142[28]	87,682[29]
Molonglo					27[30]	4,578[31]	11,435[32]
Total Canberra	288,195	307,917	307,053	322,036	355,596[33]	395,790[34]	452,670[1]

Ancestry and immigration

Country of Birth (2016)^[35]

Birthplace[N 1]	Population
Australia	269,682
England	12,739
Mainland China	11,334
India	10,405
New Zealand	4,722
Philippines	3,789
Vietnam	3,340
United States	2,775
Sri Lanka	2,774
Malaysia	2,431
South Korea	2,283

At the 2016 census, the most commonly nominated ancestries were:^{[N 2][36]}

• English (35%)
• Australian (34%)^{[N 3]}
• Irish (14%)
• Scottish (11%)
• Chinese (6%)
• German (4.7%)
• Indian (3.9%)
• Italian (3.5%)
• Dutch (1.7%)
• Indigenous (1.6%)^{[N 4]}
• Filipino (1.3%)
• Vietnamese (1.3%)
• Greek (1.3%)
• Croatian (1.2%)
• Polish (1.1%)

The 2016 census showed that 32% of Canberra's inhabitants were born overseas.^[38] Of inhabitants born outside of Australia, the most prevalent countries of birth were England, China, India, New Zealand and the Philippines.^[39]

1.6% of the population, or 6,476 people, identified as Indigenous Australians (Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders) in 2016.^{[N 5][40]}

Language

At the 2016 census, 72.7% of people spoke only English at home. The other languages most commonly spoken at home were Mandarin (3.1%), Vietnamese (1.1%), Cantonese (1%), Hindi (0.9%) and Spanish (0.8%).^[41]

Religion

At the 2021 census, the most common responses for religion were no religion (43.5%), Catholic (19.3%), Anglican (8.2%), not stated (5.2%) and Hinduism (4.5%).^[1]

Demographic Statistics

Median age

35 years of age^[1]

Age structure

0-14 years: 18.3% (82,674)

15–64 years: 68.0% (307,992)

65 years and over: 13.8% (62,003)^[1]

Population growth rate

2.1%^[42]

Birth rate

14.16 births/1,000 population^[43]

Death rate

4.88 deaths/1,000 population^[44]

Life expectancy

As of 2021-2023, the Australian Capital Territory has the highest life expectancy in Australia. The life expectancy at birth for males is 81.7 years and 85.7 years for females.^[45]

Total fertility rate

1.31^[46]

Unemployment rate

3.8%^[1]

Notes

1. In accordance with the Australian Bureau of Statistics source, England, Scotland, Mainland China and the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau are listed separately
2. As a percentage of 373,561 persons who nominated their ancestry at the 2016 census.
3. The Australian Bureau of Statistics has stated that most who nominate "Australian" as their ancestry are part of the Anglo-Celtic group.^[37]
4. Of any ancestry. Includes those identifying as Aboriginal Australians or Torres 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.
5. Of any ancestry. Includes those identifying as Aboriginal Australians or Torres 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.