3412.0 - Migration, Australia, 2013-14 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 29/01/2015   
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STATE AND TERRITORY COMPOSITION OF COUNTRY OF BIRTH

Australia's estimated resident population (ERP) by country of birth at the state and territory level is only available for Census years, with the latest being 2011. Table 1.3 shows the composition by country of birth for each state and territory, for the top 15 countries ranked at the national level.

Western Australia recorded the highest proportion of overseas-born residents in their population at 33.4% (786,500 persons), and also the largest increase in the proportion of overseas-born residents, up from 29.9% in 2006. Victoria recorded the second highest proportion with 28.7% of its residents born overseas (1,589,800 persons), up from 26.3% in 2006. Tasmania (12.6% or 64,200 persons) and the Northern Territory (18.8% or 43,600 persons) had the lowest proportion of overseas-born, both well below the Australian level of 26.9% recorded in 2011 (6,018,200 persons).

In 2011, Western Australia had the highest proportion of people born in the United Kingdom (10.9%), more than double the Australian proportion of 5.4%. The highest proportion of New Zealand-born residents was in Queensland (4.8%).

In Victoria, there were higher proportions of residents born in India (2.3%), Italy (1.5%), Vietnam (1.4%), Greece (1.1%) and Sri Lanka (0.9%) than any other state or territory. New South Wales had the highest proportion of people born in China (2.6%) and Lebanon (0.9%). The Northern Territory had the highest proportion of people born in the Philippines (1.9%), while Western Australia recorded the highest proportion of people born in South Africa (1.7%) and Malaysia (1.2%). The proportion of residents born in Germany, the Netherlands and the United States of America were fairly evenly spread across all states and territories.

1.3 ESTIMATED RESIDENT POPULATION, State and territory composition(a) - Top 15 countries of birth(b) - 30 June 2006 and 2011(c)
NSW
Vic.
Qld
SA
WA
Tas.
NT
ACT
Aust.(d)
'000
'000
'000
'000
'000
'000
'000
'000
'000
2006
Australia
4 955.4
3 729.5
3 218.1
1 212.6
1 436.7
433.1
176.3
256.1
15 419.3
Overseas-born
UK, CI & IOM(e)
291.3
221.6
210.4
128.7
232.9
24.4
7.2
16.9
1 133.5
New Zealand
120.0
71.3
166.8
12.6
54.2
4.7
4.0
4.4
437.9
China(f)
139.4
68.5
18.4
9.7
10.0
1.2
0.4
4.4
252.0
Italy
60.6
89.9
15.4
24.4
23.6
1.2
0.6
2.4
218.0
Vietnam
71.1
65.2
14.5
11.7
12.0
0.2
0.7
2.6
178.0
India
66.7
60.0
12.7
7.6
17.7
1.0
0.8
3.2
169.7
Philippines
68.2
31.8
22.0
6.3
8.1
1.1
2.4
1.9
141.9
Greece
41.5
63.3
4.8
12.3
3.6
0.7
1.3
1.4
129.0
Germany
36.4
32.5
23.7
13.7
12.1
2.5
1.1
2.7
124.7
South Africa
37.7
21.8
26.1
5.1
25.9
1.2
0.5
1.2
119.5
Malaysia
26.6
34.7
10.9
6.0
23.1
1.1
0.7
2.0
105.7
Netherlands
21.9
26.2
17.8
8.9
12.2
2.9
0.6
1.4
91.8
Lebanon
64.1
17.1
1.5
1.7
1.0
0.1
-
0.4
85.9
Hong Kong
43.3
19.7
8.9
2.7
4.7
0.4
0.2
1.4
81.4
USA
26.4
16.0
14.6
4.1
8.3
1.4
1.5
2.4
74.7
Total overseas-born
1 787.3
1 331.8
789.9
339.9
613.9
56.2
32.7
79.1
5 031.6
Total
6 742.7
5 061.3
4 008.0
1 552.5
2 050.6
489.3
209.1
335.2
20 451.0
2011
Australia
5 175.4
3 948.1
3 471.5
1 250.7
1 566.9
447.3
187.7
272.0
16 321.8
Overseas-born
UK, CI & IOM(e)
300.2
228.4
232.6
128.9
256.1
25.0
7.6
16.9
1 196.0
New Zealand
128.8
89.3
215.6
14.1
81.0
5.5
4.8
4.8
544.0
China(f)
190.0
112.8
33.2
19.3
20.5
2.3
1.1
8.0
387.4
India
109.1
126.8
34.9
21.0
34.6
1.7
2.4
6.5
337.1
Vietnam
80.6
76.2
18.3
13.4
14.6
0.3
0.8
3.3
207.6
Italy
56.8
82.7
14.6
22.1
21.7
1.1
0.5
2.2
201.7
Philippines
79.4
42.3
33.1
9.8
19.9
1.4
4.4
2.7
193.0
South Africa
44.8
26.6
39.4
6.7
39.8
1.7
0.9
1.7
161.6
Malaysia
31.4
45.7
14.8
8.0
29.4
1.4
0.8
2.5
134.1
Germany
36.5
32.2
24.6
12.8
13.2
2.5
1.2
2.6
125.7
Greece
39.0
60.1
4.2
11.4
3.2
0.6
1.4
1.3
121.2
Sri Lanka
27.5
50.4
9.0
3.0
6.3
0.3
0.6
2.6
99.7
USA
31.4
19.4
18.4
4.6
10.4
1.7
1.4
2.8
90.1
Lebanon
66.5
18.5
1.6
1.7
1.2
0.1
0.1
0.4
90.0
Netherlands
21.1
24.6
17.3
8.2
11.8
2.8
0.6
1.3
87.7
Total overseas-born
2 043.1
1 589.8
1 005.3
388.9
786.5
64.2
43.6
96.0
6 018.2
Total
7 218.5
5 537.8
4 476.8
1 639.6
2 353.4
511.5
231.3
368.0
22 340.0
- nil or rounded to zero (including null cells)
(a) Country of birth is available at the state and territory level in Census years only.
(b) The top 15 countries of birth are at the Australia level for 2006 and again for 2011.
(c) Estimates for 2006 have been recast - see paragraph 9 of the Explanatory Notes.
(d) Includes Other Territories. See paragraphs 63-64 of the Explanatory Notes.
(e) United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man.
(f) Excludes SARs and Taiwan.