Newcastle population: how many people live in Newcastle?

The Newcastle - Maitland Significant Urban Area had an estimated resident population of 541,634 at 30 June 2025. That made it the largest of the 36 urban areas in New South Wales apart from Sydney, which had 5,219,674 people on the same urban-area basis¹. Newcastle - Maitland accounted for 6.3 per cent of New South Wales' estimated 8,592,524 people and 2.0 per cent of Australia's 27,613,654 people².

The ABS updates the estimate once a year, at 30 June. In this release, the estimates are final for 2001 to 2021, revised for 2022 to 2024 and preliminary for 2025³. The next release, covering 30 June 2026, is due on 25 March 2027⁴.

In the City of Newcastle council area, net overseas migration was the largest component of population growth in 2024-25, adding 1,698 people. The ABS publishes the components of population change for council areas rather than for urban areas, so this section uses council-area boundaries. Natural increase (the excess of births over deaths) added 434 people, while net internal migration (moves to and from elsewhere in Australia) subtracted 185 people⁵. The three components added 1,947 people to the council area's population.

The pattern differed in the neighbouring council areas. Net internal migration was the largest component of population growth in the other four areas, adding 1,342 people in Maitland, 1,405 in Cessnock, 1,535 in Lake Macquarie and 716 in Port Stephens⁵. The City of Newcastle was the only one of the five council areas to record a net internal migration loss⁶.

Together, the five council areas added 9,583 people in 2024-25, compared with 6,953 in the urban area. The two totals cover different boundaries and are not directly comparable⁵.

Newcastle - Maitland was the second largest of the 36 urban areas in New South Wales at 30 June 2025, behind Sydney. Sydney had 5,219,674 people, compared with 541,634 in Newcastle - Maitland, 354,189 on the Central Coast and 322,343 in Wollongong. The next largest urban area, Albury - Wodonga, had 102,435 people, less than a fifth of Newcastle - Maitland's total. Albury - Wodonga crosses the Victorian border and is listed in the ABS data under its New South Wales code¹.

The gap between Newcastle - Maitland and the Central Coast increased from 121,225 people at 30 June 2001 to 187,445 at 30 June 2025. Wollongong grew from 260,655 to 322,343 over the same period, and was the fourth largest urban area in the state throughout this period¹.

Newcastle - Maitland also grew faster than Wollongong and the Central Coast in 2024-25. Its population increased by 1.30 per cent, compared with 1.14 per cent for Wollongong and 0.68 per cent for the Central Coast¹.

Across New South Wales, outside Greater Sydney, the population increased by 0.86 per cent over the year. The ABS publishes this as a rounded 25,200 people, or 0.9 per cent. This broader comparison uses Greater Sydney boundaries rather than urban-area boundaries⁴.

Sydney's population data is covered in the Sydney population article.

The Newcastle - Maitland urban area added 128,824 people between 30 June 2001 and 30 June 2025, growing from 412,810 to 541,634. The 2025 population was 1.31 times its 2001 population¹.

Newcastle - Maitland passed several population milestones over this period. It first exceeded 425,000 at 30 June 2006, 450,000 at 30 June 2011, 475,000 at 30 June 2016, 500,000 at 30 June 2020 and 525,000 at 30 June 2023¹. The gaps between milestones shortened from five years to four, then three.

Maitland also passed a milestone in 2025. The council area's population passed 100,000 residents for the first time at 30 June 2025, reaching 100,439, up from 56,055 at 30 June 2001. Its 2024-25 increase of 2,207 people was the second largest of the five council areas, behind Lake Macquarie's 2,396¹.