With almost one third of the total national population (nearly seven million residents), New South Wales is Australia's largest domestic market. The State's resident population increased by over 82,000 in 2007-08, with overseas migration continuing to play an important role in the State's population growth, as well as deepening the base of skills and languages.

Sydney is Australia’s largest city, home to 4.4 million people as at June 2008, and accounted for 64% of the New South Wales population. Other large cities in New South Wales include Newcastle with 531,000 people and 165 kilometres to the north of Sydney, and Wollongong with 284,000 people, 85 kilometres to the south. Together with Greater Sydney, these centres account for three quarters of the New South Wales population. While the western and north-western suburbs of Sydney have been the major contributors to New South Wales's growth in recent years, regional inland areas also recorded population growth in the year to June 2008.

Growth in the New South Wales population between 2003 and 2008 was at 4.7%, and exceeded that of Japan (-0.1%), Germany (0.0%), the United Kingdom (1.4%), Korea (1.5%), China (3.0%), France (3.0%), and Hong Kong SAR (3.1%) over the same period, according to the US Census Bureau's International Data Base.