More than 568,000 immigrants arrived in Australia during the last financial year, with India and China topping the list of source countries, according to new official data.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) 2024-25 figures released on Friday showed net overseas migration was the third highest on record at 306,000, far above Labor’s Budget forecast of 260,000, but down from 429,000 a year earlier.
Migrant arrivals fell 14% from 661,000 in 2023-24, and departures increased 13% from 232,000 to 263,000. There was a net loss of 17,000 Australian-born residents, who are included in the net overseas migration totals.
More than 568,000 immigrants arrived during the 2024-25 financial year, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data released today.
– Most arrivals came from India (74,540), followed by China (69,860)
– Net overseas migration was 306,000, the third highest on record
-… pic.twitter.com/KMfs9tv9lf— The Noticer (@NoticerNews) December 19, 2025
Only 23% of new migrants came on skilled visas, 35% came on student visas, and 30% came on working holiday or visitor visas, helping push the total number of temporary visa holders in Australia to 2.93 million as of October 31.
Jenny Dobak, ABS head of migration statistics, said net overseas migration had fallen for second year in a row following the record high of 538,000 in 2022-23.
“While net overseas migration is not currently at the level seen prior to the pandemic, this year’s overseas migration figures are the closest to pre-COVID-19 figures since annual net overseas migration peaked in September quarter 2023,” she said.
“Migrant arrivals in 2024-25 were only 3% higher than in 2018-19, but migrant departures remained 15% than they were in 2018-19.”
The top five countries of birth contributing to overseas migration in 2024-25 were China, Australia, India, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.
A total of 74,540 arrived from India, down from a peak of 111,340 in September 2023, and 69,860 from China, down from the June 2023 record of 82,220.
Migrant arrivals for temporary visitor visa holders decreased by 34%, international students decreased by 23%, permanent visa holders decreased by 3%, and
temporary visa holders remained higher than the pre-pandemic levels for most temporary groups but were down 21% overall on the previous year.
Over the same period Australia’s population grew by 1.5% to 27,614,411 people, the ABC revealed on Thursday, up 420,100 with natural increase of 114,600 added to the net overseas migration figure.
Both the number of births and deaths registered in Australia also increased by 3.4% and 0.3% respectively.
Western Australia grew fastest on 2.2%, followed by Queensland and Victoria on 1.8%, the Northern Territory on 1.4%, the ACT on 1.3%, NSW on 1.2%, South Australian on 1.1% and Tasmania on 0.2%.
Dr Kevin You, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs, said the statistics showed Australia’s migration system was not prioritising skilled migrants as claimed.
“Another day, yet another set of government data showing that Australia’s migration system is a complete scam being run for the interest of the political class, big business, universities, and the elites,” Dr You said.
Header image: A Diwali celebration in Harris Park, Sydney in 2024 (Facebook).
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