The population of central Perth has risen by 80 per cent over the past five years according to the latest regional population figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The Australian population expanded by nine per cent over the same period.
The number of people living in the city rose from 936 in 2004 to 1685 in 2009.
According to the ABS, the population in other parts of the Perth metropolitan area grew by 71 per cent.
The ABS figures also show that half the people living in Australia's central city areas are aged 20-29.
CommSec senior economist Craig James said it highlighted a trend that a rising proportion of young people were choosing to live close to capital cities.
"In places like inner Melbourne, Generation Y dominates with around 60 per cent of the working-age population represented by those aged 20-29. Brisbane and Sydney show similar trends with around half of the people aged 20-29," he said.
"It is clear that Generation Y is more inclined to live in, or close to the city, for greater access to entertainment, restaurant and employment opportunities," said Mr James.
He said the trend towards young adults wanting inner city living needed to be addressed by town planners.
"While there has been a focus on increasing land supply and transport to outer-suburbs in terms of addressing housing demand, more needs to be done at looking at re-zoning land closer to capital cities," he said.
