There was an estimated 40,080 people residing in Wellington Shire in 2006, an increase of 795 persons since 2001.

Over the past five years, Wellington’s population growth rate has increased by 2% after 10 years of annual decreases. In 2006, Wellington Shire accounted for 16.7% of the population of Gippsland. Over the past five years the population of Wellington Shire has grown 2.3%, growing at an average rate of 0.4% per annum.

Population projections for the next 5 years show that Wellington Shire’s population figure will increase 3.48%, which will bring Wellington Shire’s population to approximately 41,473 residents in 2011.