Movement in the Brisbane CBD is at 81% of pre-pandemic levels; it’s highest level of movement since the pandemic began
A special analysis of movement data in Australia’s Capital City CBDs since the COVID-19 pandemic began shows that movement in the Brisbane CBD has reached 81% of pre-pandemic levels in early November – its highest level of movement since March 2020 when the pandemic began.
A special analysis of movement data in Australia’s Capital City CBDs since the COVID-19 pandemic began shows that movement in the Brisbane CBD has reached 81% of pre-pandemic levels in early November – its highest level of movement since March 2020 when the pandemic began.
Queensland has ramped up its vaccination drive in recent weeks as the State gets set to fully re-open its domestic borders to NSW, Victoria and the ACT in just over a month’s time on Friday December 17.
The 7-day movement level in the Brisbane CBD is ‘streets ahead’ of its southern counterparts in Sydney and Melbourne which emerged from lockdown during the month of October as restrictions began to ease.
The average 7-day movement level in the Sydney CBD was at 41% (up 8% points on a week earlier) of pre-pandemic levels in early November compared to 36% (up 9% points on a week earlier) of pre-pandemic levels in the Melbourne CBD. Despite these low numbers these are the highest average movement levels in both city CBDs for nearly six months since late May 2021.
Despite the increasingly busy Brisbane CBD the city still trails significantly behind the Adelaide CBD which returned to an average 7-day movement level of 94% of pre-pandemic levels – the highest level of movement for the ‘City of Churches’ since reaching a high of 98% during the Easter holidays in April 2021.
Also performing well are the Capital Cities of two States that are yet to fully re-open to domestic travellers. The movement levels in the Perth CBD are now at 82% of pre-pandemic levels while movement levels in the Hobart CBD are at 71% of pre-pandemic levels.
Australian Capital City CBDs average 7-day movement levels March 1, 2020 – November 7, 2021:
% Movement is compared to the 7-day average in Jan-Feb 2020
Source: Roy Morgan collaboration with UberMedia who provide anonymous aggregated insights using mobile location data. Note: Movement data for the Capital City CBDs excludes the residents of the respective CBDs.
The latest vaccination figures from the Health Department show over 37.7 million vaccination doses have been administered to 90% of the adult population and over 83% of Australian adults are now fully vaccinated.
Vaccination rates are highest in the ACT (97%+ fully vaccinated), NSW (91%) and Victoria (87%). All three jurisdictions fully re-opened to domestic travellers, and Australian citizens and residents returning from overseas who are fully vaccinated, in early November.
For the three States set to re-open during the next seven weeks vaccination rates are considerably lower. Now 82% of Tasmanians are fully vaccinated, 74% of South Australians and 70% of Queenslanders.
South Australia is due to re-open to travellers from NSW, Victoria and the ACT next week on Tuesday November 23, Tasmania is set to re-open on Wednesday December 15 and Queensland is set to re-open two days later on Friday December 17 – just over a week before Christmas.
Roy Morgan has partnered with leading technology innovator UberMedia to aggregate data from tens of thousands of mobile devices to assess the movements of Australians as we deal with the restrictions imposed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The interactive dashboard available tracks the movement data for those visiting the Capital City CBDs during 2020 and 2021, excluding the CBD residents of each city. Movement data from several key locations around Australia is also available to view by using the interactive dashboard.
Michele Levine, CEO of Roy Morgan, says November has brought increases in movement levels around Australia as restrictions continue to be eased in Sydney and Melbourne and vaccination rates continue to steadily increase in other States:
“The average movement levels in Australia’s Capital City CBDs have increased in early November with the average movement level in the Brisbane CBD hitting 81% of pre-pandemic levels – its highest since the beginning of the pandemic in March 2020.
“The impressive milestone for the Queensland Capital comes as vaccination rates in the State accelerate with domestic borders set to re-open to New South Wales, Victoria and the ACT in just over a month’s time on Friday December 17. As of this week over 70% of Queensland adults are now fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
“The Adelaide CBD continues to be the standout for all Australian Capital Cities with movement reaching an average of 94% of pre-pandemic levels in early November – its highest for over seven months since the Easter holidays in early April 2021. South Australia is set to re-open its domestic border to fully vaccinated travellers from NSW, Victoria and the ACT next week.
“The ease of travel from South Australia will help to boost in-bound visitation to both Sydney and Melbourne over the next few weeks as it becomes easier to move around the country.
“At present average movement levels in both of the larger cities are still well below pre-pandemic levels although the improvement continues. Average movement in the Sydney CBD was at 41% of pre-pandemic levels, up 8% points from a week earlier and at 36% of pre-pandemic levels in the Melbourne CBD, up 9% points from the last week of October.
“The good news for Victorians, and also city traders in the Melbourne CBD, is that mask rules are set to ease significantly over the next week as the State passes a fully vaccinated rate of 90% of all Victorian adults. At that point mask wearing will no longer be required in shops, offices and most settings.”
View the latest Roy Morgan UberMedia movement data for Australian Capital City CBDs including the Melbourne CBD, Sydney CBD, Perth CBD, Adelaide CBD and Hobart CBD here.
About UberMedia
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Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
