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
April 2025 - September 2025 Economic Snapshot(PDF, 615KB)
What's happening in this precinct?
Prahran has recovered well from a lull over Summer 2024, with spend up against both the Apr-Sep period and the Oct-Mar period of 2024-25. Discretionary retail spend is up, driven by a 50% increase in department store and clothing, while growth in tourism and entertainment is driven by an increase in spend in cafes (+17%), restaurants (+10%) and recreation (+75%). Chapel Street and Commercial Road are both experiencing an increase in shop vacancies, but Greville Street continues to perform strongly with a low vacancy rate of 6%. Peaks in foot traffic in the precinct continue to trend towards weekends and evenings, with strong night-time patronage on Fridays and Saturdays.
The economy
- Daytime spend – $148.9M
- Night-time spend – $67.7M
- Total local spend – $217M (up 5.8% from last year)
- Total customers – 245K (up 4.8% from last year)
- Highest spend day – 2 August 2025
- Highest weekly spend day – Saturdays
- Spend origin – 33% residents, 67% visitors
| April - September monthly spend |
| |
2024 |
2025 |
| April |
$33,841,021 |
$34,484,000 |
| May |
$34,177,943 |
$36,878,000 |
| June |
$35,020,588 |
$35,721,000 |
| July |
$33,411,488 |
$35,483,000 |
| August |
$35,728,782 |
$38,730,000 |
| September |
$32,584,104 |
$35,256,000 |
|
April 2025 - September 2025 top spend categories
|
|
Category
|
Subcategory
|
Total spend
|
|
Discretionary Retail
|
Other discretionary retail
|
$30,615,000
|
|
Department stores, clothing and accessories
|
$22,718,000
|
|
Food retailing
|
Supermarkets
|
$38,919,000
|
|
Groceries and other food retailing
|
$29,231,000
|
|
Tourism and entertainment
|
Takeaway and fast food outlets
|
$6,853,000
|
|
Restaurants
|
$19,169,000
|
|
Pubs, taverns and bars
|
$29,700,000
|
|
Cafes
|
$7,324,000
|
|
Attractions, events and recreation
|
$1,706,000
|
Vacancy and occupancy
- Vacancies now filled – 29 since January 2025
- Changed tenancies - 20 since January 2025
- Newly vacant premises - 30 since January 2025
|
|
July 25 vacancy rate
|
Change
|
|
Chapel Street
|
16.76%
|
Up 0.89%
|
|
Commercial Road
|
15.32%
|
Up 4.61%
|
|
Greville Street
|
6.10%
|
Up 1.22%
|
Street activity
- Busiest days - Saturdays
- Busiest times – 3 PM
Visitor demographics
- Top customer age band – 25-34, 32.1% of visitors
- Top customer life stage – Young singles and couples, 38.0% of visitors
|
Top 5 non-Stonnington spend origin locations
|
|
Albert Park
|
$6.5M
|
|
St Kilda – West
|
$6.2M
|
|
South Yarra – West
|
$5.7M
|
| St Kilda East |
$5.4M
|
|
St Kilda - Central
|
$4.6M
|
Data sourcing: Pedestrian activity data current as of 20 October 2025. Source: City of Stonnington Pedestrian counters. Spend data current as of 20 October 2025 and is subject to revisions. Sourced from banking transaction data. Vacancy data current as of July 2025. Source: Vacancy Review, prepared by E3 valuations and commissioned by City of Stonnington.
Previous snapshots