Statizoid

Population in Australia

Australia: Population was 26.45 million people in 2023. ◆ Volatile

Latest (2023)
26.45 million people
Change on year
up 1.0%
World rank
54th
of 238 countries
All-time high
26.45 million people
in 2023
All-time low
200,000 people
in 1800
Years of data
241
1000–2023

Population in Australia, 1000–2023

010.0M20.0M30.0M100015112023

Source: HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in people.

Analysis

Australia recorded 26.45 million people for population in 2023. That is the highest value across all 241 years on record.

That represents a change of up 1.0% on the previous year and up 13.8% over ten years.

Over the whole period, population in Australia peaked at 26.45 million people in 2023 and was at its lowest, 200,000 people, in 1800.

Australia ranks 54th of 238 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1000s 314,851 people 314,851 people 314,851 people 1
1100s 315,026 people 315,026 people 315,026 people 1
1200s 315,290 people 315,290 people 315,290 people 1
1300s 315,685 people 315,685 people 315,685 people 1
1400s 316,277 people 316,277 people 316,277 people 1
1500s 317,166 people 317,166 people 317,166 people 1
1600s 318,500 people 318,500 people 318,500 people 1
1700s 314,500 people 314,500 people 314,500 people 1
1710s 314,500 people 314,500 people 314,500 people 1
1720s 314,500 people 314,500 people 314,500 people 1
1730s 314,500 people 314,500 people 314,500 people 1
1740s 314,500 people 314,500 people 314,500 people 1
1750s 314,500 people 314,500 people 314,500 people 1
1760s 314,500 people 314,500 people 314,500 people 1
1770s 314,667 people 314,667 people 314,667 people 1
1780s 315,087 people 315,087 people 315,087 people 1
1790s 316,556 people 316,556 people 316,556 people 1
1800s 225,070 people 200,000 people 251,914 people 10
1810s 290,865 people 258,627 people 323,943 people 10
1820s 331,661 people 328,728 people 333,197 people 10
1830s 369,690 people 335,111 people 411,303 people 10
1840s 499,291 people 423,526 people 589,474 people 10
1850s 888,154 people 622,584 people 1.22 million people 10
1860s 1.51 million people 1.29 million people 1.72 million people 10
1870s 1.95 million people 1.76 million people 2.14 million people 10
1880s 2.56 million people 2.20 million people 2.97 million people 10
1890s 3.35 million people 3.05 million people 3.63 million people 10
1900s 3.97 million people 3.69 million people 4.25 million people 10
1910s 4.73 million people 4.33 million people 5.17 million people 10
1920s 5.75 million people 5.27 million people 6.24 million people 10
1930s 6.62 million people 6.33 million people 6.89 million people 10
1940s 7.47 million people 6.97 million people 8.03 million people 10
1950s 9.12 million people 8.18 million people 10.06 million people 10
1960s 11.26 million people 10.28 million people 12.27 million people 10
1970s 13.72 million people 12.60 million people 14.53 million people 10
1980s 15.76 million people 14.72 million people 16.87 million people 10
1990s 18.02 million people 17.13 million people 18.91 million people 10
2000s 20.30 million people 19.13 million people 21.78 million people 10
2010s 23.79 million people 22.14 million people 25.48 million people 10
2020s 26.09 million people 25.74 million people 26.45 million people 4

Countries ranked near Australia

  1. 51 Nepal 29.69 million people compare
  2. 52 Cameroon 28.37 million people compare
  3. 53 Venezuela 28.30 million people compare
  4. 55 North Korea 26.42 million people compare
  5. 56 Niger 26.16 million people compare
  6. 57 Mali 23.77 million people compare

See the full ranking of 239 places →

More population data for Australia

All data for Australia →

Frequently asked questions

What is population in Australia?
Population in Australia was 26.45 million people in 2023, according to HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
What is the highest population recorded in Australia?
The highest recorded value was 26.45 million people in 2023.
What is the lowest population recorded in Australia?
The lowest recorded value was 200,000 people in 1800.
How does Australia rank for population?
Australia ranks 54th out of 238 countries with data for 2023.
Is population rising or falling in Australia?
Over the last ten years it is up 13.8%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
Where does this Australia data come from?
The figures come from HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 241 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Population
Unit
people
Source
HYDE (2023); Gapminder (2022); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence
CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage
239 places, 51,002 data points, 1000–2023
Last refreshed

Population by country, available from 10,000 BCE to 2023, based on data and estimates from different sources.