A mecca of culture and creativity, Prahran offers a variety of entertainment, arts, and cultural activities.
Key economic indicators
- 12,982 people live in this precinct. Population growth is expected to grow by 1.2 per cent by 2036.
- 1,820 businesses in Prahran generated $527M in economic activity in 2021.
- The median weekly household income is $1,850.
- 34 per cent of people are aged 25 to 34, and 26 per cent are aged 35 to 44.
- Residents of Prahran spent $131.9M locally in Prahran in 2021, with visitors spending $333.1M.
Read the Place Activation Plan for Prahran or find out more about Prahran in the economic snapshot below.
Economic Snapshot
October 2025 - March 2026 Economic Snapshot(PDF, 604KB)
What's happening in this precinct?
Prahran experienced significant growth, particularly concentrated over the festive period, even though total customer numbers are down slightly from last year. Valentines Day spending eclipsed the largest Christmas spend day, with 13 February being the highest spend day from October to March. Vacancies have increased overall, but have remained steady on Commercial Road. Saturdays are much busier than any other day of the week, and strong street activity continues well into the early hours of Sunday. Visitors to the precinct skew young (31.9% within the 25-34 age bracket), and skew local, with top spend locations from outside Stonnington of Albert Park, St Kilda, and the City of Melbourne portion of South Yarra
The economy
- Daytime spend – $156.3M
- Night-time spend – $71.7M
- Total local spend – $228M (up 8.4% from last year)
- Total customers – 251K (down 1.8% from last year)
- Highest spend day – 13 February 2026
- Highest weekly spend day – Saturdays
- Spend origin – 33% residents, 67% visitors
| October - March monthly spend |
| |
2024-25 |
2025-26 |
| October |
$34,230,696 |
$35,908,000 |
| November |
$35,925,688 |
$39,159,000 |
| December |
$39,933,621 |
$46,323,000 |
| January |
$31,854,089 |
$34,275,000 |
| February |
$31,894,399 |
$34,733,000 |
| March |
$36,446,602 |
$37,540,000 |
|
October 2025 - March 2026 top spend categories
|
|
Category
|
Subcategory
|
Total spend
|
|
Discretionary Retail
|
Department stores, clothing and accessories
|
$19,975,000
|
|
Other discretionary retail
|
$32,814,000
|
|
Food retailing
|
Groceries and other food retailing
|
$32,463,000
|
|
Supermarkets
|
$40,711,000
|
|
Tourism and entertainment
|
Takeaway and fast food outlets
|
$6,766,000
|
|
Restaurants
|
$15,507,000
|
|
Pubs, taverns and bars
|
$29,274,000
|
|
Cafes
|
$7,858,000
|
|
Attractions, events and recreation
|
$8,606,000
|
Vacancy and occupancy
- Vacancies now filled – 16 since July 2025
- Changed tenancies – 24 since July 2025
- Newly vacant premises – 23 since July 2025
|
|
January 2026 vacancy rate
|
Change
|
|
Chapel Street
|
18.34%
|
Up 1.58%
|
|
Commercial Road
|
15.32%
|
Steady 0%
|
|
Greville Street
|
7.41%
|
Up 1.31%
|
Street activity
- Busiest days - Saturdays
- Busiest times – 5 pm
Visitor demographics
- Top customer age band – 25-34, 31.9% of visitors
- Top customer life stage – Young singles and couples, 37.7% of visitors
|
Top 5 non-Stonnington spend origin locations
|
|
Albert Park
|
$6.8M
|
|
St Kilda – West
|
$6.6M
|
|
St Kilda East
|
$5.9M
|
| South Yarra – West |
$5.8M
|
|
St Kilda - Central
|
$5.2M
|
Data sourcing: Pedestrian activity data current as of 8 April 2026. Source: City of Stonnington Pedestrian counters. Spend data current as of 24 April 2026 and is subject to revisions. Sourced from banking transaction data. Vacancy data current as of January 2026. Source: Vacancy Review, prepared by E3 valuations and commissioned by City of Stonnington.
Previous snapshots