This paper presents the behaviour and design of axially loaded concrete-filled steel tube circular stub columns. The study was conducted over a wide range of concrete cube strengths ranging from 30 to 110 MPa. The external diameter of the steel tube-to-plate thickness (D/t) ratio ranged from 15 to 80 covering compact steel tube sections. An accurate finite element model was developed to carry out the analysis. Accurate nonlinear material models for confined concrete and steel tubes were used. The column strengths and load-axial shortening curves were evaluated. The results obtained from the finite element analysis were verified against experimental results. An extensive parametric study was conducted to investigate the effects of different concrete strengths and cross-section geometries on the strength and behaviour of concrete-filled compact steel tube circular stub columns. The column strengths predicted from the finite element analysis were compared with the design strengths calculated using the American, Australian and European specifications. Based on the results of the parametric study, it is found that the design strengths given by the American Specifications and Australian Standards are conservative, while those of the European Code are generally unconservative. Reliability analysis was performed to evaluate the current composite column design rules.