In 2025, 32% of the Australian resident population, or 8,576,680 people, were born overseas, up from 29.1% in 2020.
International comparison
Australia has one of the highest numbers 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.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
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 8.6 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
The following table shows Australia's population by country of birth as estimated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2025.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2025) Place of birthEstimatedresidentpopulation Total Australian-born 18,779,950 Total foreign-born 8,833,710 971,020 970,950 731,540 637,680 412,530 326,630 229,950 213,580 184,800 184,320 152,560 143,920 128,140 128,040 125,690 122,030 121,660 115,250 111,880 105,620 101,40098,39096,18095,69095,14086,98084,88074,11072,11070,65065,38063,85061,31059,28052,83049,62048,84048,68048,45047,29047,24046,90046,65040,56040,14039,64038,80038,56037,85034,06032,00031,75030,04029,99029,78028,83026,67022,02021,45021,30020,33019,99019,17018,51018,07017,24017,06016,56016,35016,15014,95014,88013,62013,56012,87012,61012,06011,14010,65010,28010,24010,0109,9709,8909,6609,6109,2509,2309,1909,1208,8108,6208,2608,0307,9707,2006,7705,6105,5305,2805,1504,2904,2204,2104,2103,9203,7603,7003,6703,4303,3603,2803,2503,0903,0603,0202,9002,8002,6702,6402,6102,5902,4502,4502,1602,0402,0301,9601,9301,7901,7801,6901,6401,5401,5401,5401,4901,3601,3101,1801,1201,0501,0209809509509108908708608508108107907507107006306106105805805705605605505104504304104003803703603603403202902702502402102002001901601601601601501401401201109080808080707070606060505050404040404030303030303030302020202020201010101010101010
Historical populations by country of birth
The following table shows Australia's population by country of birth during historical census years. The top 100 countries are shown.
Rank Place of birth Estimated resident population, 2001 census Estimated resident population, 2006 census Estimated resident population, 2011 census Estimated resident population, 2016 census Estimated resident population, 2021 census % Change 2006-2021 Rank movement 2006-20211 13,629,68514,072,94615,017,84615,614,83417,019,815 20.9% 2 847,365856,939911,593907,568927,490 8.2% 3 95,452147,106295,362455,385673,352 357.7% 44 142,780206,588318,969509,558549,618 166.0% 5 355,765389,465483,398518,462530,492 36.2% 26 103,942120,540171,233232,391293,892 143.8% 37 154,831159,850185,039219,351257,997 61.4% 18 79,425104,132145,683162,450189,207 81.7% 49 78,85892,335116,196138,363165,616 79.4% 410 218,718199,124185,402174,042163,326 18.0% 511 53,46162,25686,412109,850131,904 111.9% 612 4,56624,63554,757122,506 2583.0% 6913 137,252130,206133,432119,416118,496 5.0% 914 38,90052,76374,53898,775102,092 93.5% 515 53,69461,72177,00986,126101,309 64.1% 316 108,220106,524108,002102,594101,255 4.9% 517 67,12271,80374,95586,886100,148 39.5% 118 24,83232,52048,16967,35392,922 185.7% 1119 116,431109,99099,93893,74092,314 16.1% 920 16,99330,22161,91889,633 427.5% 3021 71,34974,84976,45078,64987,340 16.7% 622 47,15850,97463,15973,21887,075 70.8% 23 23,60030,55445,46466,22883,779 174.2% 924 50,23550,25667,31874,89180,927 61.0% 125 22,54934,45458,11270,899 214.4% 1526 44,26148,14256,97861,47268,947 43.2% 227 83,32478,92476,04670,17266,481 15.8% 1328 33,48539,97248,64754,93461,056 52.7% 129 16,75128,59846,79959,797 257.0% 2230 16,09627,80842,42051,491 219.9% 2231 27,28931,61438,87143,05350,223 58.9% 132 24,37028,62746,82249,511 103.2% 533 7,49314,50827,62546,720 523.5% 3834 58,11052,25448,67745,37045,884 12.2% 1435 30,77835,37742,42045,267 47.1% 436 51,90950,99648,82843,68743,302 15.1% 1537 33,49636,53239,77643,213 29.0% 938 43,52740,65640,22238,98641,786 2.8% 1239 20,15530,25134,78939,714 97.0% 440 12,37821,76032,65639,171 216.5% 1841 24,52828,32933,15239,043 59.2% 542 29,82130,49032,84432,18338,568 26.5% 943 17,26819,18624,67531,12036,019 87.7% 144 46,99843,70041,27437,60935,413 19.0% 1945 5,70911,31718,99135,033 513.6% 3146 24,02126,78728,80329,984 24.8% 847 23,30424,93626,08229,860 28.1% 848 25,31328,67528,04629,250 15.6% 1449 6,9688,39115,32429,096 317.6% 2450 15,24019,09224,01628,107 84.4% 451 24,63125,68223,95926,171 6.3% 1652 18,17323,27924,32425,981 43.0% 553 17,32720,20520,26725,454 46.9% 454 15,35418,27720,42923,864 55.4% 155 21,29622,59623,02022,995 8.0% 1456 9,93513,83117,65422,348 124.9% 657 11,36811,98513,34317,977 58.1% 358 12,27613,05615,39117,281 40.8% 159 15,19415,32815,80617,050 12.2% 460 18,38318,07016,93616,737 9.0% 1461 20,16119,09117,89916,655 17.4% 1962 19,04919,37017,02916,609 12.8% 1763 13,87814,05014,38715,268 10.0% 764 17,92717,01015,39014,403 19.7% 1665 5,6348,45211,79114,092 150.1% 1266 13,66613,99013,36614,055 2.8% 967 2,9744,8988,22613,063 339.2% 2268 11,26111,94212,12813,017 15.6% 769 2,5004,5198,48712,883 415.3% 2570 7,5829,2099,96712,260 61.7% 171 1392,4555,95312,002 8534.5% 9772 3,48210,51712,57811,684 235.6% 1473 6,3228,4409,55411,531 82.4% 174 7,7889,2289,82011,035 41.7% 675 9,3759,93210,40110,948 16.8% 1076 7,4998,3539,55410,847 44.6% 677 9,3979,6519,57310,119 7.7% 1478 009,2259,2429,761 N/A 11979 9,3819,2378,9929,205 1.9% 1580 8,9679,0268,7908,874 1.0% 1481 003,4867,6978,255 NA 11682 4,3145,6867,6688,101 87.8% 83 3,7194,6205,9147,959 114.0% 184 7,9477,9397,7117,831 1.5% 1785 7,1797,4387,7057,776 8.3% 1386 5,0615,7626,3777,203 42.3% 787 5,0276,0916,8307,112 41.5% 788 4,0785,5376,2376,847 67.9% 589 1,8023,2554,8716,845 279.9% 1390 2,8764,0606,0166,815 137.0% 91 1,5393,4045,4606,627 330.6% 1392 2,7693,8665,2836,322 128.3% 193 6182,5754,0956,148 894.8% 3894 2,0152,8414,3015,629 179.4% 495 2436672,2745,397 2121.0% 6096 6,2206,0995,5565,076 18.4% 2197 3,3233,9394,4284,781 43.9% 1098 2,3003,4373,8314,371 90.0% 299 1,7122,6753,3684,163 143.2% 4100 2,6772,9153,2873,718 38.9% 8
Foreign-born population by state/territory
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.
New South Wales
The following table shows New South Wales' population by country of birth during historical census years. The top 10 countries are shown.
Rank Place of birth Estimated resident population, 2006 census Estimated resident population, 2011 census Estimated resident population, 2016 census Estimated resident population, 2021 census % Change 2006-2021 Rank movement 2006-20211 4,521,1574,747,3744,899,0915,277,497 16.7% 2 114,044156,034234,506247,595 117.1% 13 218,837227,521226,561231,385 5.7% 14 57,15595,387143,459208,962 265.6% 35 106,614114,230117,138118,527 11.2% 16 57,71970,38886,752106,930 85.3% 7 63,79171,83884,12997,995 53.6% 28 3,09515,29632,12264,946 2000.0% 629 55,77856,29557,37563,293 13.5% 110 20,53129,34240,27655,353 169.6% 10
Victoria
The following table shows Victoria's population by country of birth during historical census years. The top 10 countries are shown.
Rank Place of birth Estimated resident population, 2006 census Estimated resident population, 2011 census Estimated resident population, 2016 census Estimated resident population, 2021 census % Change 2006-2021 Rank movement 2006-20211 3,434,4723,670,9343,845,4944,228,667 23.1% 2 52,852111,787169,808258,193 388.5% 73 163,957172,068171,444174,552 6.5% 14 56,56493,896160,652171,447 203.1% 25 63,99580,23493,25499,344 55.2% 16 58,87368,29680,79093,598 59.0% 17 27,33838,00251,28768,463 150.4% 68 31,48043,99155,83368,066 116.2% 19 82,85176,90870,53064,796 21.8% 610 30,47439,79050,04862,662 105.6%
Queensland
The following table shows Queensland's population by country of birth during historical census years. The top 10 countries are shown.
Rank Place of birth Estimated resident population, 2006 census Estimated resident population, 2011 census Estimated resident population, 2016 census Estimated resident population, 2021 census % Change 2006-2021 Rank movement 2006-20211 2,935,2583,192,1143,343,6593,679,899 25.4% 2 148,761192,036201,202208,572 40.2% 13 161,421179,495180,775191,731 18.8% 14 10,97330,25949,14471,819 554.4% 105 15,05827,03647,11155,762 270.3% 46 18,71129,46239,65651,529 175.4% 17 22,71435,54940,13349,699 118.8% 38 13,08616,26919,54724,455 86.9% 39 22,44624,05721,88122,756 1.4% 410 20,11121,02720,38720,981 4.3% 4
South Australia
The following table shows South Australia's population by country of birth during historical census years. The top 10 countries are shown.
Rank Place of birth Estimated resident population, 2006 census Estimated resident population, 2011 census Estimated resident population, 2016 census Estimated resident population, 2021 census % Change 2006-2021 Rank movement 2006-20211 1,120,0831,170,7891,192,5491,273,353 13.7% 2 101,497102,68197,39295,248 6.2% 3 6,82718,73927,59244,881 557.4% 84 8,07615,93224,60925,709 218.4% 55 10,54612,02514,33817,033 61.6% 36 22,48520,70818,53716,653 25.9% 37 5,4418,85812,46015,503 184.9% 78 11,36412,84812,93313,461 18.5% 29 14,29113,90211,99111,470 19.7% 510 11,96911,41010,1189,489 20.7% 5
Western Australia
The following table shows Western Australia's population by country of birth during historical census years. The top 10 countries are shown.
Rank Place of birth Estimated resident population, 2006 census Estimated resident population, 2011 census Estimated resident population, 2016 census Estimated resident population, 2021 census % Change 2006-2021 Rank movement 2006-20211 1,279,2221,407,8081,492,8411,648,794 28.9% 2 174,191191,932194,164196,885 13.0% 3 47,33170,73479,22275,591 59.7% 4 15,15629,91549,38461,088 303.2% 45 22,05035,32641,00844,889 103.6% 6 6,83117,23130,83537,524 449.3% 107 19,71924,96729,12432,282 63.7% 8 8,00416,69227,07728,415 255.0% 69 24,41827,18526,05926,146 7.1% 510 20,93419,47719,20418,175 13.2% 4
Tasmania
The following table shows Tasmania's population by country of birth during historical census years. The top 10 countries are shown.