Foreign-born population of Australia
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (February 2019) |
In 2020, 29.1% of the Australian resident population, or 7,502,000 people, were born overseas.[1]
International comparison
Australia has one of the highest amounts of foreign-born residents in the world (both in total numbers, and per capita), as well as one of the highest immigration rates in the world. Immigrants account for 30% of the population, the highest proportion among major Western nations.[2][3] In 2015, Australia had the 8th highest foreign-born population in the world, behind Canada but ahead of France (both countries had very close numbers to Australia). The United States was ranked 1st, with over 46 million foreign-born residents. The over 7 million immigrants in Australia constituted 3.1% of all immigrants in the world. For foreign-born residents per capita, Australia was ranked the 11th highest sovereign country ahead of Lebanon and behind Jordan (both countries experienced a large influx of refugees from the civil war in neighbouring Syria). Vatican City was 1st, its population of 800 were 100% foreign-born. If dependent territories (e.g.: Guam, Macau, Channel Islands) were included, then Australia's rank would fall to 27th. From 2010 to 2015, Australia had the 14th highest net migration rate in the world. For 2015–2020, Australia's migration rate was projected to fall (statistics published in 2019), however the country's rank was expected to remain steady at 14th due to similar falls in other countries.
Population by country of birth (2022)
The following table shows Australia's population by country of birth as estimated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2022. It shows only countries or regions of birth with a population of over 100,000 residing in Australia.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2022)[4] | |
---|---|
Place of birth | Estimated resident population[upper-alpha 1] |
Total Australian-born | 18,332,620 |
Total foreign-born | 7,680,450 |
England England[upper-alpha 2] | 961,370 |
India India | 753,520 |
China China[upper-alpha 3] | 597,440 |
New Zealand New Zealand | 586,020 |
Philippines Philippines | 320,300 |
Vietnam Vietnam | 281,810 |
South Africa South Africa | 206,730 |
Malaysia Malaysia | 176,210 |
Italy Italy | 161,560 |
Nepal Nepal | 151,140 |
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka | 145,430 |
Scotland Scotland[upper-alpha 4] | 125,030 |
United States United States | 112,580 |
Hong Kong Hong Kong[upper-alpha 5] | 112,520 |
South Korea South Korea | 108,810 |
Germany Germany | 104,710 |
Iraq Iraq | 104,170 |
Pakistan Pakistan | 103,120 |
- ↑ Only countries with 100,000 or more are listed here.
- ↑ The Australian Bureau of Statistics source lists England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland separately although they are all part of the United Kingdom. These should not be combined as they are not combined in the source.
- ↑ In accordance with the Australian Bureau of Statistics source, Mainland China, Taiwan and the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau are listed separately.
- ↑ The Australian Bureau of Statistics source lists England and Scotland separately although they are both part of the United Kingdom. These should not be combined as they are not combined in the source.
- ↑ In accordance with the Australian Bureau of Statistics source, Mainland China, Taiwan and the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau are listed separately.
Historical populations by country of birth
The following table shows Australia's population by country of birth during historical census years. Only countries with over 25,000 Australian residents are shown.
Place of birth | Status | Estimated resident population, 2021 census[5] |
Estimated resident population, 2016 census[6] |
Estimated resident population, 2011 census [7] |
Estimated resident population, 2006 census[2] |
Estimated resident population, 2001 census[2] |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
File:Flag of Australia (converted).svg Australia | Increase Increasing | 17,019,815 | 15,614,834 | 15,017,846 | 14,072,946 | 13,629,685 |
File:Flag of England.svg England | Increase Increasing | 927,490 | 907,568 | 911,593 | 856,939 | 847,365 |
File:Flag of India.svg India | Increase Increasing | 673,352 | 455,385 | 295,362 | 147,106 | 95,452 |
File:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg China | Increase Increasing | 549,618 | 509,558 | 318,969 | 206,588 | 142,780 |
File:Flag of New Zealand.svg New Zealand | Increase Increasing | 530,492 | 518,462 | 483,398 | 389,465 | 355,765 |
File:Flag of the Philippines.svg Philippines | Increase Increasing | 293,892 | 232,391 | 171,233 | 120,540 | 103,942 |
File:Flag of Vietnam.svg Vietnam | Increase Increasing | 257,997 | 219,351 | 185,039 | 159,850 | 154,831 |
File:Flag of South Africa.svg South Africa | Increase Increasing | 189,207 | 162,450 | 145,683 | 104,132 | 79,425 |
File:Flag of Malaysia.svg Malaysia | Increase Increasing | 165,616 | 138,363 | 116,196 | 92,335 | 78,858 |
File:Flag of Italy.svg Italy | Decrease Decreasing | 163,326 | 174,042 | 185,402 | 199,124 | 218,718 |
File:Flag of Sri Lanka.svg Sri Lanka | Increase Increasing | 131,904 | 109,850 | 86,412 | 62,256 | 53,461 |
File:Flag of Nepal.svg Nepal | Increase Increasing | 122,506 | 54,757 | 24,635 | 4,566 | |
File:Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland | Steady Stagnant | 118,496 | 119,416 | 133,432 | 130,206 | 137,252 |
File:Flag of South Korea.svg South Korea | Increase Increasing | 102,092 | 98,775 | 74,538 | 52,763 | 38,900 |
File:Flag of the United States.svg United States | Increase Increasing | 101,309 | 86,126 | 77,009 | 61,721 | 53,694 |
File:Flag of Germany.svg Germany | Steady Stagnant | 101,255 | 102,594 | 108,002 | 106,524 | 108,220 |
File:Flag of Hong Kong.svg Hong Kong | Increase Increasing | 100,148 | 86,886 | 74,955 | 71,803 | 67,122 |
File:Flag of Iraq.svg Iraq | Increase Increasing | 92,922 | 67,353 | 48,169 | 32,520 | 24,832 |
File:Flag of Greece.svg Greece | Steady Stagnant | 92,314 | 93,740 | 99,938 | 109,990 | 116,431 |
File:Flag of Pakistan.svg Pakistan | Increase Increasing | 89,633 | 61,918 | 30,221 | 16,993 | |
File:Flag of Lebanon.svg Lebanon | Increase Increasing | 87,340 | 78,649 | 76,450 | 74,849 | 71,349 |
File:Flag of Indonesia.svg Indonesia | Increase Increasing | 87,075 | 73,218 | 63,159 | 50,974 | 47,158 |
File:Flag of Thailand.svg Thailand | Increase Increasing | 83,779 | 66,228 | 45,464 | 30,554 | 23,600 |
File:Flag of Ireland.svg Ireland | Increase Increasing | 80,927 | 74,891 | 67,318 | 50,256 | 50,235 |
File:Flag of Iran.svg Iran | Increase Increasing | 70,899 | 58,112 | 34,454 | 22,549 | |
File:Flag of Fiji.svg Fiji | Increase Increasing | 68,947 | 61,472 | 56,978 | 48,142 | 44,261 |
File:Flag of the Netherlands.svg Netherlands | Decrease Decreasing | 66,481 | 70,172 | 76,046 | 78,924 | 83,324 |
File:Flag of Singapore.svg Singapore | Increase Increasing | 61,056 | 54,934 | 48,647 | 39,972 | 33,485 |
File:Flag of the Taliban.svg Afghanistan | Increase Increasing | 59,797 | 46,799 | 28,598 | 16,751 | |
File:Flag of Bangladesh.svg Bangladesh | Increase Increasing | 51,491 | 42,420 | 27,808 | 16,096 | |
File:Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg Canada | Increase Increasing | 50,223 | 43,053 | 38,871 | 31,614 | 27,289 |
File:Flag of the Republic of China.svg Taiwan | Increase Increasing | 49,511 | 46,822 | 28,627 | 24,370 | |
File:Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil | Increase Increasing | 46,720 | 27,625 | 14,508 | 7,493 | |
File:Flag of Poland.svg Poland | Steady Stagnant | 45,884 | 45,370 | 48,677 | 52,254 | 58,110 |
File:Flag of Japan.svg Japan | Increase Increasing | 45,267 | 42,420 | 35,377 | 30,778 | |
File:Flag of Croatia.svg Croatia | Steady Stagnant | 43,302 | 43,687 | 48,828 | 50,996 | 51,909 |
File:Flag of Egypt.svg Egypt | Increase Increasing | 43,213 | 39,776 | 36,532 | 33,496 | |
File:Flag of North Macedonia.svg North Macedonia | Steady Stagnant | 41,786 | 38,986 | 40,222 | 40,656 | 43,527 |
File:Flag of Zimbabwe.svg Zimbabwe | Increase Increasing | 39,714 | 34,789 | 30,251 | 20,155 | |
File:Flag of Myanmar.svg Myanmar | Increase Increasing | 39,171 | 32,656 | 21,760 | 12,378 | |
File:Flag of Cambodia.svg Cambodia | Increase Increasing | 39,043 | 33,152 | 28,329 | 24,528 | |
File:Flag of Turkey.svg Turkey | Increase Increasing | 38,568 | 32,183 | 32,844 | 30,490 | 29,821 |
File:Flag of France.svg France | Increase Increasing | 36,019 | 31,120 | 24,675 | 19,186 | 17,268 |
File:Flag of Malta.svg Malta | Decrease Decreasing | 35,413 | 37,609 | 41,274 | 43,700 | 46,998 |
File:Flag of Colombia.svg Colombia | Increase Increasing | 35,033 | 18,991 | 11,317 | 5,709 | |
File:Flag of Papua New Guinea.svg Papua New Guinea | Increase Increasing | 29,984 | 28,803 | 26,787 | 24,021 | |
File:Flag of Chile.svg Chile | Increase Increasing | 29,860 | 26,082 | 24,936 | 23,304 | |
File:Flag of Wales (1959–present).svg Wales | Steady Stagnant | 29,250 | 28,046 | 28,675 | 25,313 | |
File:Flag of Syria.svg Syria | Increase Increasing | 29,096 | 15,324 | 8,391 | 6,968 | |
File:Flag of Samoa.svg Samoa | Increase Increasing | 28,107 | 24,016 | 19,092 | 15,240 | |
File:Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg Bosnia and Herzegovina | Steady Stagnant | 26,171 | 23,959 | 25,682 | 24,631 | |
File:Flag of Mauritius.svg Mauritius | Increase Increasing | 25,981 | 24,324 | 23,279 | 18,173 | |
File:Flag of Serbia.svg Serbia | Increase Increasing | 25,454 | 20,205 | 20,267 | 17,327 |
Foreign-born population by state/territory
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As per the 2016 Census, while 6 out of every 10 migrants live in Victoria or New South Wales, there had been a noticeable increase in the number of migrants that settled down Western Australia and Queensland. In 2016, among all the capital cities in Australia, Sydney – at 1,773,496 – had the highest overseas-born population. Melbourne, on the other hand, had 1,520,253 overseas-born individuals living in the city as per the 2016 Census. Perth, with 702,545 in 2016, came in at the third spot on the list of cities with the highest number of overseas-born population.2 According to the 2016 Census, among all the Australian states and territories, Western Australia had the largest population of overseas-born individuals.
See also
- Visa policy of Australia
- Demography of Australia
- Department of Immigration and Border Protection
- Post war immigration to Australia
- Multiculturalism in Australia
- Asylum in Australia
References
- ↑ "Australia's overseas-born population drops during pandemic | Australian Bureau of Statistics". www.abs.gov.au. 2022-04-26. Retrieved 2022-04-26.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "Details - Main Features". Abs.gov.au. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ↑ United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division, (2019). 'Total international migrant stock'. Accessed from International migrant stock 2019 on 5 May 2021
- ↑ "Table 1.1 Estimated resident population, by country of birth, Australia, as at 30 June, 1996 to 2022(a)(b)". Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
- ↑ "Australian Community Profile 2021". Abs.gov.au. 28 June 2022. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
- ↑ "Australian Community Profile 2016". Abs.gov.au. June 2017. Archived from the original on 20 April 2020. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
- ↑ "Australian Community Profile 2011". Abs.gov.au. June 2012. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
Sources
- Commonwealth of Australia. Migration Act 1958
Further reading
- Betts, Katharine. Ideology and Immigration: Australia 1976 to 1987 (1997)
- Burnley, I.H. The Impact of Immigration in Australia: A Demographic Approach (2001)
- Foster, William, et al. Immigration and Australia: Myths and Realities (1998)
- Jupp, James. From White Australia to Woomera: The Story of Australian Immigration (2007) excerpt and text search
- Jupp, James. The English in Australia (2004) excerpt and text search
- Jupp, James. The Australian People: An Encyclopedia of the Nation, its People and their Origins (2002)
- Markus, Andrew, James Jupp and Peter McDonald, eds. Australia's Immigration Revolution (2010) excerpt and text search
- O'Farrell, Patrick. The Irish in Australia: 1798 to the Present Day (3rd ed. Cork University Press, 2001)
- Wells, Andrew, and Theresa Martinez, eds. Australia's Diverse Peoples: A Reference Sourcebook (ABC-CLIO, 2004)
External links
- Department of Immigration and Border Protection of Australia
- Costello hope for skilled migrant intake
- NSW training Chinese workers
- Chinese Museum Archived 2018-08-21 at the Wayback Machine - Museum of Chinese immigration to Australia in Melbourne
- Origins: Immigrant Communities in Victoria – Immigration Museum, Victoria, Australia
- NSW Migration Heritage Centre, Australia
- Office of The Migration Agents Registration Authority (OMARA)
- Australian State of Queensland skilled and business migration information site
- Australian State of Victoria official site for skilled and business migrants
- Culture Victoria – Stories about migration to Australia
- Migration Alliance - Peak Society for Australian Migrants and Migration Agents (Not-for-profit incorporated association)
- Jupp, James (2008). "Immigration". Dictionary of Sydney. Retrieved 4 October 2015. (Immigration in Sydney) [CC-By-SA]