Historical Migration Statistics brings together migration statistics from 1945 through to the present day.

In interpreting these statistics it should be noted that the classification of regions and country names has changed over time and that the way migration statistics are reported has also changed. From October 1945 to June 1959, migration statistics included permanent and long-term arrivals. Today, we have various components - the Migration Program, Humanitarian Program and Non-Program migration (mainly New Zealand citizens) reported as permanent additions to Australia's resident population.

Australia Net Migration data was reported at 138,510.000 Person in 2024. This records a decrease from the previous number of 140,232.000 Person for 2023. Australia Net Migration data is updated yearly, averaging 108,852.000 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2024, with 65 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 275,773.000 Person in 2008 and a record low of 23,833.000 Person in 1993. Australia Net Migration data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Net migration is the net total of migrants during the period, that is, the number of immigrants minus the number of emigrants, including both citizens and noncitizens.;United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2024 Revision.;Sum;

In 2023, the number of people from the United States registered as residents in Japan amounted to approximately 63.4 thousand people. This represented an increase from the previous year, which marked about 60.8 thousand residents.

In 2023, the number of international migrants to and from South Korea amounted to about 1.28 million people. This is an increase compared to the previous years caused by travel restrictions in response to COVID-19.

As of 2023, Australia's net overseas migration was 152.2 thousand people. In 2020 and 2021, net migration in Australia reduced drastically due to travel restrictions imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Net migration increased to over 400 thousand people once restrictions were eased in 2022.

Population Change: Net Interstate Migration: Western Australia data was reported at 1,469.000 Person in Sep 2024. This records a decrease from the previous number of 2,411.000 Person for Jun 2024. Population Change: Net Interstate Migration: Western Australia data is updated quarterly, averaging 580.000 Person from Jun 1981 (Median) to Sep 2024, with 174 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 5,181.000 Person in Dec 2021 and a record low of -3,669.000 Person in Dec 2016. Population Change: Net Interstate Migration: Western Australia data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Australian Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.G003: Population Change.

Australian Migration Statistics is a statistical package provided as an accompaniment to the annual publication Australia’s Migration Trends published on the Department of Home Affairs website. The statistical package (first produced for the 2016–17 edition of Australia’s Migration Trends) provides detailed statistics on permanent and temporary migration.\r \r See: Migration trends reports - https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/research-and-statistics/statistics/visa-statistics/live/migration-program

Migrants from the United Kingdom have long been Australia’s primary immigrant group and in 2023 there were roughly 960 thousand English-born people living in Australia. India and China held second and third place respectively with regard to Australia’s foreign-born population. The relative dominance of Asian countries in the list of top ten foreign-born residents of Australia represents a significant shift in Australia’s immigration patterns over the past few decades. Where European-born migrants had previously overshadowed other migrant groups, Australian migration figures are now showing greater migration numbers from neighboring countries in Asia and the Pacific. A history of migration Australia is often referred to as an ‘immigrant nation’, alongside the United States, Canada, and New Zealand. Before the Second World War, migrants to Australia were almost exclusively from the UK, however after 1945, Australia’s immigration policy was broadened to attract economic migrants and temporary skilled migrants. These policy changes saw and increase in immigrants particularly from Greece and Italy. Today, Australia maintains its status as an ‘’Immigrant nation’’, with almost 30 percent of the population born overseas and around 50 percent of the population having both that were born overseas. Australian visas The Australian immigration program has two main categories of visa, permanent and temporary. The permanent visa category offers three primary pathways: skilled, family and humanitarian. The skilled visa category is by far the most common, with more than a million permanent migrants living in Australia on this visa category at the last Australian census in 2021. Of the temporary visa categories, the higher education visa is the most popular, exceeding 180 thousand arrivals in 2023.

A report that provides an overview of the previous 10 years of Migration Program outcomes.

These de-identified statistics are periodically checked for privacy and other compliance requirements. The statistics were temporarily removed in March 2024 in response to a question about privacy within the emerging technological environment. Following a thorough review and risk assessment, the Department of Home Affairs has republished the dataset.

Please Note: As announced by the Minister for Immigration and Border Protection on 25 June 2017, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) retired the paper-based Outgoing Passenger Cards (OPC) from 1 July 2017. The information previously gathered via paper-based outgoing passenger cards is now be collated from existing government data and will continue to be provided to users. Further information can be accessed here: http://www.minister.border.gov.au/peterdutton/Pages/removal-of-the-outgoing-passenger-card-jun17.aspx.

Due to the retirement of the OPC, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) undertook a review of the OAD data based on a new methodology. Further information on this revised methodology is available at: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/Previousproducts/3401.0Appendix2Jul%202017?opendocument&tabname=Notes&prodno=3401.0&issue=Jul%202017&num=&view=

A sampling methodology has been applied to this dataset. This method means that data will not replicate, exactly, data released by the ABS, but the differences should be negligible.

Due to ‘Return to Source’ limitations, data supplied to ABS from non-DIPB sources are also excluded.

Overseas Arrivals and Departures (OAD) data refers to the arrival and departure of Australian residents or overseas visitors, through Australian airports and sea ports, which have been recorded on incoming or outgoing passenger cards. OAD data describes the number of movements of travellers rather than the number of travellers. That is, multiple movements of individual persons during a given reference period are all counted. OAD data will differ from data derived from other sources, such as Migration Program Outcomes, Settlement Database or Visa Grant information. Travellers granted a visa in one year may not arrive until the following year, or may not travel to Australia at all. Some visas permit multiple entries to Australia, so travellers may enter Australia more than once on a visa. Settler Arrivals includes New Zealand citizens and other non-program settlers not included on the Settlement Database. The Settlement Database includes onshore processed grants not included in Settler Arrivals.

These de-identified statistics are periodically checked for privacy and other compliance requirements. The statistics were temporarily removed in March 2024 in response to a question about privacy within the emerging technological environment. Following a thorough review and risk assessment, the Department of Home Affairs has republished the dataset.

Abstract

This dataset, a product of the Trade Team - Development Research Group, is part of a larger effort in the group to measure the extent of the brain drain as part of the International Migration and Development Program. It measures international skilled migration for the years 1975-2000.

The methodology is explained in: "Tendance de long terme des migrations internationals. Analyse à partir des 6 principaux pays recerveurs", Cécily Defoort.

This data set uses the same methodology as used in the Docquier-Marfouk data set on international migration by educational attainment. The authors use data from 6 key receiving countries in the OECD: Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the UK and the US.

It is estimated that the data represent approximately 77 percent of the world’s migrant population.

Bilateral brain drain rates are estimated based observations for every five years, during the period 1975-2000.

Geographic coverage

Australia, Canada, France, Germany, UK and US

Kind of data

Aggregate data [agg]

Mode of data collection

Other [oth]

Population Change: Net Overseas Migration: Western Australia data was reported at 11,564.000 Person in Sep 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 7,957.000 Person for Jun 2024. Population Change: Net Overseas Migration: Western Australia data is updated quarterly, averaging 3,972.000 Person from Jun 1981 (Median) to Sep 2024, with 174 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 20,995.000 Person in Mar 2023 and a record low of -2,317.000 Person in Sep 2020. Population Change: Net Overseas Migration: Western Australia data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Australian Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.G003: Population Change.

In 2019 there were ********* migrants from the United Kingdom in Australia. The next largest migrant groups were people from China and New Zealand at over ******* migrants each. More recently Australian migration figures are showing greater migration numbers from neighboring countries in Asia and the Pacific and reduced numbers of European-born migrants.

Historical dataset showing Australia immigration statistics by year from 1960 to 2015.

These indexes were created from the Registers of immigrant ships’ arrivals in Queensland ports as kept and used by the Immigration Department from 1848 to 1912. The records are held at Queensland State Archives.

Net overseas migration (NOM) is the net gain or loss of population through immigration to Australia and emigration from Australia. This dataset contains annual NOM estimates by age and sex at the state/territory and Australia level.

This dataset presents the estimates of the internal and overseas migration statistics of Australia by age by Statistical Area Level 4 (SA4) following the 2016 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). The dataset spans from the 2016-17 financial year up to the 2019-20 financial year. Overseas migration is the movement of people from overseas to Australia's sub-state areas and vice-versa. It cannot be directly measured and is estimated by breaking down overseas migrant arrivals and departures at the state level to sub-state areas, using information from the most recent Census. The state-level overseas migration data is sourced from Department of Home Affairs processing systems, visa information, and incoming passenger cards, and is published in National, state and territory population. Internal migration is the movement of people across a specified boundary within Australia involving a change in place of usual residence. It cannot be directly measured and is instead estimated using administrative data. The movement of people between and within Australia's states and territories cannot be directly measured and is estimated using administrative data. Internal migration is estimated based on a combination of Census data (usual address one year ago), Medicare change of address data (provided by Services Australia), and Department of Defence records (for military personnel only). The Medicare source data is assigned to a state or territory and GCCSA for a person's departure and arrival locations, based on the postcodes of their residential addresses as registered with Medicare. Postcodes are assigned wholly to a state/territory and GCCSA based on best fit. Where a postcode is split across areas, it is assigned to the area that contains the majority of that postcode's population. For more information please visit the Regional population methodology. AURIN has spatially enabled the original data.

This dataset presents the estimates of the internal migration statistics of Australia by Greater Capital City Statistical Area (GCCSA) following the 2011 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). The dataset spans from the 2006-07 financial year up to the 2015-16 financial year. Regional internal migration is the movement of people from one region to another within Australia (both interstate and intrastate). For example, it incorporates moves from a GCCSA to any other GCCSA within the country. Net regional internal migration is the net gain or loss of population through this movement. The ABS has developed a new series of annual regional internal migration estimates (RIME) based on the 2011 edition of the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). The Medicare and Defence data used for estimating interstate migration is now also used to estimate internal migration below the state/territory level. A similar method was used to prepare RIME at the LGA level, based on 2011 boundaries. This data is Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data (catalogue number: 3412.0) used with permission from the ABS. For more information please visit the ABS Explanatory Notes. Please note: RIME are not directly comparable with estimated resident populations (ERPs) because of the different methods and source data used to prepare each series. The combination of natural increase and net migration (internal and overseas) therefore may not correspond with change in ERP. AURIN has spatially enabled the original data.

Australia Population Change: Net Overseas Migration: Victoria data was reported at 24,375.000 Person in Sep 2024. This records an increase from the previous number of 17,504.000 Person for Jun 2024. Australia Population Change: Net Overseas Migration: Victoria data is updated quarterly, averaging 8,892.000 Person from Jun 1981 (Median) to Sep 2024, with 174 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 50,020.000 Person in Mar 2023 and a record low of -20,667.000 Person in Sep 2020. Australia Population Change: Net Overseas Migration: Victoria data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Australian Bureau of Statistics. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Australia – Table AU.G003: Population Change.

This dataset presents the estimates of the internal and overseas migration statistics of Australia by age by Statistical Area Level 2 (SA2) following the 2016 Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). The dataset spans from the 2016-17 financial year up to the 2019-20 financial year. Overseas migration is the movement of people from overseas to Australia's sub-state areas and vice-versa. It cannot be directly measured and is estimated by breaking down overseas migrant arrivals and departures at the state level to sub-state areas, using information from the most recent Census. The state-level overseas migration data is sourced from Department of Home Affairs processing systems, visa information, and incoming passenger cards, and is published in National, state and territory population. Internal migration is the movement of people across a specified boundary within Australia involving a change in place of usual residence. It cannot be directly measured and is instead estimated using administrative data. The movement of people between and within Australia's states and territories cannot be directly measured and is estimated using administrative data. Internal migration is estimated based on a combination of Census data (usual address one year ago), Medicare change of address data (provided by Services Australia), and Department of Defence records (for military personnel only). The Medicare source data is assigned to a state or territory and GCCSA for a person's departure and arrival locations, based on the postcodes of their residential addresses as registered with Medicare. Postcodes are assigned wholly to a state/territory and GCCSA based on best fit. Where a postcode is split across areas, it is assigned to the area that contains the majority of that postcode's population. For more information please visit the Regional population methodology. AURIN has spatially enabled the original data.