Almost 600,000 immigrants arrived in Australia last year, the third-highest annual intake on record and the equivalent of one foreigner entering the country every 53 seconds, the latest official data shows.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed on Thursday that Australia’s population grew to 27.4 million by December 31, 2024, an increase of 1.7% and 445,900 people more than the same time in 2023.
Last year’s overseas migration intake of 594,900 was only lower than 2023’s 751,500 and 2022’s 619,600, but departures were also up 22% year-on-year with 254,200 people emigrating from Australia. The ABS did not released nationality breakdowns for either arrivals or departures.
Net overseas migration, a measure criticised by population experts as “fictitious”, was 340,800 for the year, significantly lower than 2023’s 547,300 and a decrease from 2022’s 387,000, but higher than Labor’s 2024-2025 financial year migration forecast of 335,000.
The natural population increase in 2024 was 105,200, up 1.9% from in 2023, with 292,400 births (up 2.6%) and 187,300 deaths (up 3.0%) registered in 2024, meaning 77% of the year’s population growth was due to immigration.
The ABS figures showed that most immigrants settled in NSW and Victoria last year, with overseas arrivals of 194,796 and 169,041 respectively.
NSW lost 28,118 people to interstate migration and had a natural increase of 29,444, while Victoria lost 3,203 people and had a natural increase 35,272.
International students historically make up 40-50% of overseas migration, although the numbers have been higher in recent years, the AFR reported.
And despite a record 200,000 foreign students arriving in Australia in February this year alone, there has been a 30% fall in student visa application, and a 33% decrease in Indian student applications.
Record-high levels of immigration since Labor entered government in May 2022 has pushed the foreign-born population to 31.5%, up from 30.7% in 2023.
Between 2019 and 2024 the India-born resident population grew from 665,400 to 916,330, the China-born went from 661,460 to 700,120, those born in the Philippines increased from 294,160 to 394,380, and the Nepal-born population grew to 197,800 from 119,060.
The population born in the above four countries alone is now at 2.2 million, out of a total of 8.6 million born overseas, up from 6.5 million 10 years earlier.
Header image: Anthony Albanese panders to Sikh immigrants in Sydney (Facebook).
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