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Australia’s cities are some of the most spacious on the planet. According to new research by the United Nations Population Division, Perth was the world’s least densely populated city of 1 million or more in 2025, with fewer than 2,000 people per square kilometre. That’s a tiny fraction of Mumbai, India’s ‘Maximum City’, where density hits 27,000 people per square kilometre.
As a highly urbanised, highly developed nation, Australia often sits near the top of global rankings compiled by the UN. But when it comes to population density – essentially how compact our cities are – the country lands at the bottom of the list.
According to the study, Perth has the world’s lowest urban population density among cities with more than 1 million people. The Western Australian capital ranked 510th out of the 510 cities analysed, with less than 2,000 people per square kilometre. Brisbane followed closely as the seventh-least populated city, with Melbourne and Sydney also among the 40 most spread-out major cities.
It’s worth noting that Adelaide wasn’t included in the analysis, as the UN didn’t classify it as a city of more than 1 million people. But if the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ estimate of 1.47 million were applied, it would likely rival Perth for having the largest urban sprawl.
Cultural preferences play a big role in why Australia’s major capitals, like many English-speaking cities, are far less dense than much of the rest of the world. Australians typically value the privacy of their own homes, while multi-generational living is far more common in countries such as India and China, which make up 19 of the world’s 50 most densely populated cities. You can read more into the United Nations Population Division report here.