Why families are fleeing Sydney

January 25, 2026

In 2024, the NSW Productivity and Equality Commission warned that high housing costs were causing a “brain drain” among 30- to 40-year-olds in Sydney.

The NSW Productivity and Equality Commission estimated that Sydney lost around 35,000 persons aged 30 to 40 between 2016 and 2021.

According to the most recent quarterly population figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the population of New South Wales (NSW) increased by 101,821 during the financial year 2024-25, driven almost entirely by net overseas migration (NOM) of 91,573: