AUSTRALIA'S POPULATION BY COUNTRY OF BIRTH

The cultural and linguistic diversity of Australia's resident population has been reshaped over many years by migration. Historically, more people immigrate to, than emigrate from, Australia. At 30 June 2017, 29.0% of the estimated resident population (ERP) was born overseas (7.1 million persons). This was an increase from 30 June 2016, when 28.6% of the population was born overseas (6.9 million persons). In 2007, ten years earlier, 25.1% of the population was born overseas (5.2 million persons).

Persons born in England continued to be the largest group of overseas-born residents, accounting for 4.1% of Australia's total population at 30 June 2017. This was followed by persons born in China (2.5%), New Zealand (2.3%), India (2.2%), the Philippines (1.1%) and Vietnam (1.0%).


Over the last 10 years, the proportion of the Australian population who were born in England decreased from 4.6% in 2007 to 4.1% in 2017. Conversely, the proportions increased for people born in China (from 1.3% to 2.5%), New Zealand (from 2.2% to 2.3%), and India (from 1.0% to 2.2%).

Of the top 50 countries of birth (excluding Australia) at 30 June 2017, the number of persons born in Nepal had the highest rate of increase between 2007 and 2017, with an average annual growth rate of 24.9%. However, this growth began from a small base of 8,000 persons in 2007. The second fastest increase over this period was in the number of persons born in Brazil (13.9% per year on average), followed by those born in Pakistan (13.8%), India (10.2%) and Afghanistan (8.7%). Of the top 50 countries of birth, the fastest decline was for Croatia, with an average annual decrease of 1.8%, followed by Malta (1.8%).