The city at a glance

The City of Sydney is one of the largest and fastest growing local areas in Australia. 

Population

At 30 June 2022, the estimated resident population in our local area was 218,096 people. This represents around 4.1% of Greater Sydney's total population of 5,302,736.

The population density in the City of Sydney area is 8,176 people per square kilometre compared to 429 people per square kilometre for Greater Sydney.

From 2017 to 2022, the population fell by nearly 10,000 people, representing a 4% decrease over this period. Covid disrupted migration patterns, which largely contributed to this loss. Before Covid, the City of Sydney was growing at an average yearly rate of 2.8% from 2012 to 2019 compared to the metropolitan average of 1.7%.

Visitors

In the 2022/23 financial year, 5.4 million international and domestic overnight visitors stayed in commercial accommodation in the local area. This represents around 81% of levels seen before the pandemic in the 2018/19 financial year. 

In 2018/19, the top 3 countries of visitors were China, the US and UK. In 2022/23, the top 3 countries of visitors were the US, UK and New Zealand.

Harbour and parklands

Waterways and some public areas are under the executive control of various state government agencies including: Property and Development NSW, Transport for NSW, Port Authority of NSW, Centennial Park and Moore Park Trust, Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust and Department of Defence.

Suburbs

The city is made up of 33 suburbs wholly or partly contained within our council boundary:

• Alexandria
• Annandale (part)
• Barangaroo
• Beaconsfield
• Camperdown (part)
• Centennial Park
• Chippendale
• Darlinghurst
• Darlington
• Dawes Point
• Elizabeth Bay
• Erskineville
• Eveleigh
• Forest Lodge
• Glebe
• Haymarket
• Millers Point
• Moore Park
• Newtown (part)
• Paddington (part)
• Potts Point
• Pyrmont
• The Rocks
• Rosebery (part)
• Redfern
• Rushcutters Bay
• St Peters (part)
• Surry Hills
• Sydney
• Ultimo
• Waterloo
• Woolloomooloo
• Zetland

Our local area is made up of many diverse communities – people who live here come from a wide variety of cultural and social backgrounds.

Language

In 2022 nearly 114,000 residents living in the local area were born overseas. Nearly 82,000 speak a language other than English at home.

Mandarin was the most prevalent, with an estimated 20,000 speakers in 2022 followed by Cantonese and Thai, each with an estimated 6,500 speakers in the local area.

Our local area is also home to one of Sydney's largest communities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Age

The median age of residents is 34 years and relatively younger compared to the Greater Sydney median of 37 years.

In 2022 our largest group were 25–29 year olds, making up almost 17% of our resident population or just over 36,000 people. This was followed by 30–34 year olds, representing around 16% of the resident population or nearly 35,000 people. Collectively, these 2 groups represent around a third of the City of Sydney population in 2022.

Conversely, there are proportionally fewer teenagers, children and people aged 75 and older residing in our local area compared to Greater Sydney.

Living arrangements

In 2022 lone person households represented around two-fifths of total households in the local area, making it the largest group.

In June 2022 there were 138,184 dwellings in the local area with around 89% representing private dwellings. Private dwellings are all housing except boarding houses, student accommodation and residential care services such as aged care.

Around 81% of all private dwellings were in multi-storey apartment buildings and just over 16% were terrace houses.

In 2021 around 64% of the 126,800 working residents who lived in our local area also worked here. Just over 460,000 people who lived outside the local area also identified as working in the city.

Workers

In 2021, around 540,600 people had jobs located in our local area. Nearly a quarter worked in the finance and financial services sector and over one-fifth worked in professional and business services.

Around half of the local workforce in 2021 were born overseas with people born in India, UK and China each representing around 6% of the total workforce in the city.

Income and housing affordability

In 2021 the median household income for local households was $2,212 per week and was $135 higher than the Greater Sydney median. Median personal income was $1,241 per week and was $360 higher than the Greater Sydney median.

Median rent in the city was $550 per week and was $80 higher than the Greater Sydney median. Median mortgage repayment was $2,700 per month and was $273 higher than the Greater Sydney median.

Around one third of all rental households were paying over 30% of household income on rent. Around one fifth of all owner mortgage households were paying over 30% of household income on repayments.

Being the economic and cultural heart of the Greater Sydney area, the city is highly and densely urbanised.

Built form

Our local area has nearly 38 million sqm of internal floor space.

In 2017, around 45% of internal floor space was devoted to businesses in key industries including the finance sector, professional and business services and tourism. Just over a third (34.4%) was dedicated to residential uses.

Transport

Over 60% of households have access to a car in the city compared to nearly 90% in Greater Sydney.

The average number of cars per household in the City of Sydney local area is 0.8 which is around half the rate for Greater Sydney (1.5).

The City of Sydney local area makes a significant contribution to the regional and national economy. In the financial year ending 30 June 2022, the local economy generated around $141 billion, representing around 29% of the Greater Sydney economy, 21% of the NSW economy and 7% of the total national economy.

In 2021/2022, jobs in the local area are estimated to represent around 5% of Australia’s total employment.

International visitor gateway

Sydney is Australia's face to the world, boasting the country's top visitor attractions. The city has consistently been named a favourite international tourist destination in travel publications. In the 2023 Conde Nast Traveler Readers Choice Survey, Sydney was ranked 8th best city in the world to visit. Four of the top 10 hotels located in the Australia and New Zealand region voted by readers were also in Sydney.

In the year ended June 2023, the Sydney tourism region hosted over 2.5 million international visitors staying in accommodation who spent more than 57 million nights in the region. Around 13% of international visitors were from the US followed by New Zealand (11%) and the UK (10%).

Global city rankings

Organisations around the world have developed their own rankings measuring cities across social, economic, environmental and cultural indicators. These rankings attempt to quantify cities in terms of their global status and influence, providing an alternative understanding of how Sydney is positioned against other cities around the world.

In 2023, the Economist Intelligence Unit ranked Sydney as the 4th most liveable city in the world as part of its yearly Global Liveability Index. The index measures stability, health care, culture, environment, education and infrastructure factors determining liveability across 173 cities.

The index also measures competitiveness across 121 international finance centres in business, finance, infrastructure, human capital and reputation. In 2023, Sydney was in the top 25 list of leading centres globally and was ranked 7th overall in the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2022/2023 Sydney was ranked 18th by 2thinknow’s Innovation Cities Index and 20th by the 2023 Startup Genome Ecosystem Report.

The 2022 Anholt-Ipsos City Brand Index ranked Sydney as the 3rd best city in the world for its brand appeal and image. 5,000 people were asked to rank 50 cities evaluating their international status, physical aspects, basic requirements such as affordable housing and public amenities, interesting things to do and economic and educational opportunities. Based on these themes, Sydney also ranked first on the people and place indices making up the overall brands index.

The Global Power City Index ranked Sydney 13th in 2022 among 48 of the world’s major cities, behind familiar leaders London, New York, Tokyo and Paris. Across specific areas, Sydney’s ranked first for air quality and 4th on environment overall, 15th in research and development and 20th on liveability. The yearly ranking is compiled by the Japan-based Mori Memorial Foundation.

Sydney is considered an alpha world city, according to Loughborough University’s globalisation and world cities research network, which measures the connectivity of cities in terms of position and influence. Alpha cities have critical links with major economic regions and strong connections to the global economy. In 2020, Sydney ranked in the top 10 most connected cities alongside New York, London, Tokyo, Paris and Hong Kong.

Geographically, Sydney is fringed by the Tasman Sea to the east, the Blue Mountains to the west, the Hawkesbury River to the north and the Woronora Plateau to the south. The Parramatta, Georges and Cooks rivers are some of the major tributaries that flow to the coastline of Sydney.

Greater Sydney, as classified by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, extends from Wyong and Gosford in the north to the Royal National Park in the south and follows the coastline in between. Towards the west, the region includes the Blue Mountains, Wollondilly and Hawkesbury. Greater Sydney covers 12,368.7 sq km and is made up of 34 local councils.

Over 650 suburbs make up the Greater Sydney region. They are largely linked by a complex transport network including heavy and light rail services, public and private bus services, ferry services, taxis and a road and cycle network.

Economic context

In 2021/22 Greater Sydney generated an estimated economic output of over $490 billion which represented 23% of Australia’s GDP.

Greater Sydney population

In 2022 the estimated resident population for Greater Sydney was 5,302,736. The current population density of the Greater Sydney area is 429 people per square kilometre which includes surrounding national parks.

Sydney’s multicultural make-up is evident in the statistics relating to the country of birth for residents living in Greater Sydney. In 2022, an estimated 2.1 million residents were born overseas. The top 5 countries for residents born overseas were China, India, United Kingdom, Vietnam and Philippines.

In 2022, and estimated 3.2 million residents in Greater Sydney spoke only English at home while around 2.1 million spoke a language other than English. The top 5 languages other than English spoken at home were Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese and Hindi.

During the 2021 Census, there were 1.8 million occupied private dwellings counted in Greater Sydney. Of these, nearly 56% were separate houses and nearly 31% were apartments.

Of those occupied private dwellings nearly three-quarters were family households, and just under one quarter were lone person households.

Greater Sydney workforce

Sydney is the financial and business services hub of Australia. It also has a concentration of jobs within the multimedia and communications industries, tourism, hospitality and cultural industries.

In 2021/22, health care and social assistance industry represented the highest share of total Greater Sydney jobs (13%) followed by professional, scientific and technical services (12.7%), retail trade (9.2%) and education and training (8.4%).

During the 2021 census, the total labour force for Greater Sydney was around 2.56 million. The labour force represents around a fifth of the total national workforce. Nearly 56% were employed on a full-time basis and around 28% were employed on a part-time basis. Around 12% were employed but away from work at the time of the census.

• 2021 Australian Bureau of Statistics Census of Population and Housing
• .id City of Sydney Population Forecast
• .id City of Sydney Economic profile
• 2017 City of Sydney Floor Space and Employment Survey
• Regional Population Growth, Australia (ABS Cat no. 3218.0)
• Tourism Research Australia International Visitor Survey (IVS) results
• Tourism Research Australia National Visitor Survey (NVS) results