Australia's population grew by 1.4 per cent

Australia's population grew by 1.4 per cent during the year ending 31 December 2019, according to the latest figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

ABS Demography Director Lauren Ford said: "The population at 31 December 2019 was 25.5 million people, following an annual increase of 349,800 people."

Natural increase accounted for 39.8 per cent of annual population growth, while net overseas migration accounted for the remaining 60.2 per cent.

There were 305,800 births and 166,700 deaths registered in Australia during the year ending 31 December 2019. Natural increase during this period was 139,200 people, a decrease of 5.2 per cent from the previous year.

There were 533,500 overseas migration arrivals and 322,900 departures during the year ending 31 December 2019, resulting in net overseas migration of 210,700 people. Net overseas migration was down 16.5 per cent compared to the previous year. This was due to an increase in overseas migration departures (14.4 per cent) coupled with relatively stable arrivals (0.2 per cent decrease).

Statistics in this publication largely predate COVID-19.

The Australian summer bushfires of 2019/20 had no observable impact on the statistics in this publication.

Further information is available in Australian Demographic Statistics (cat. no. 3101.0).

For regional population estimates see Regional Population Growth, Australia (cat. no. 3218.0), available for free download from https://www.abs.gov.au/.