Regions of birth
The makeup of Australia's overseas-born population has been greatly affected by successive waves of migration to Australia since the Second World War. At first, most of these immigrants were those born in countries in North-West Europe, including the United Kingdom and Germany. These were followed by large numbers of migrants born in Southern and Eastern Europe, including Italy, Greece and Yugoslavia. In the 1970s, many migrants arrived in Australia from South-East Asia, including Vietnam, the Philippines and Cambodia.
The proportion of immigrants born in North-West Europe has in recent years been in decline, falling from 7.9% in 1999 to 7.2% in 2009 as seen in Table 5.2. The share of Southern and Eastern Europe migrants is also in decline from 4.6% in 1999 to 3.8% in 2009. Over the past decade migrants from all other global regions increased within Australia's population indicating that Australia is becoming increasingly diverse.
During the 10 years ended 30 June 2009, there was some change in the ranking of regions of birth in terms of each region's proportion of Australia's population. Since 1999, Southern and Central Asia has moved from 7th to 6th position by 2009 swapping with North Africa and the Middle East. Similarly, Sub-Saharan Africa has moved from 9th to 8th position by 2009 placing the Americas in 9th position.
5.2 Regions of birth, Proportion of Australia's population - Selected years at 30 June |
|
 | 1999 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009(a) |
| % | % | % | % | % | % | % |
|
| Australia | 76.9 | 76.2 | 75.8 | 75.4 | 74.9 | 74.2 | 73.5 |
| Oceania and Antarctica (excl. Aust.) | 2.4 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 2.9 | 3.0 |
| North-West Europe | 7.9 | 7.4 | 7.3 | 7.3 | 7.3 | 7.3 | 7.2 |
| Southern and Eastern Europe | 4.6 | 4.3 | 4.2 | 4.1 | 4.0 | 3.9 | 3.8 |
| North Africa and the Middle East | 1.2 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.5 |
| South-East Asia | 2.8 | 3.0 | 3.0 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 3.3 | 3.4 |
| North-East Asia | 1.6 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 2.4 | 2.6 | 2.8 |
| Southern and Central Asia | 0.9 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 1.5 | 1.8 | 2.1 | 2.3 |
| Americas | 0.9 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.1 |
| Sub-Saharan Africa | 0.7 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 1.1 | 1.1 | 1.2 | 1.3 |
|
| (a) Estimates for 2008-09 are preliminary - see paragraphs 9-10 of the Explanatory Notes. |
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