In 2024, 31.5% of the Australian resident population, or 8,576,680 people, were born overseas, up from 29.1% in 2020.
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.
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 2015âÂÂ2020, 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.
The following table shows Australia's population by country of birth as estimated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in 2024.
The following table shows Australia's population by country of birth during historical census years. The top 100 countries are shown.
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 â at 1,773,496 â 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.
Victoria
The following table shows Victoria's population by country of birth during historical census years. The top 10 countries are shown.
Queensland
The following table shows Queensland's population by country of birth during historical census years. The top 10 countries are shown.
South Australia
The following table shows South Australia's population by country of birth during historical census years. The top 10 countries are shown.
Western Australia
The following table shows Western Australia's population by country of birth during historical census years. The top 10 countries are shown.
Tasmania
The following table shows Tasmania's population by country of birth during historical census years. The top 10 countries are shown.
Australian Capital Territory
The following table shows the ACT's population by country of birth during historical census years. The top 10 countries are shown.
Northern Territory
The following table shows the NT's population by country of birth during historical census years. The top 10 countries are shown.