TableBuilder: Net overseas migration

This product provides information about the TableBuilder release of net overseas migration. 

The net overseas migration (NOM) TableBuilder dataset contains statistics on migration to and from Australia, by characteristics including age, sex, state, visa and country.

NOM is the difference between the number of incoming travellers who are added to the population (overseas migrant arrivals) and the number of outgoing travellers who are subtracted from the population (overseas migrant departures).

For the purposes of overseas migration, a person who is not already resident in Australia, is added to the estimated resident population (ERP) if they travel to Australia and remain present in Australia for 12 months or more (an overseas migrant arrival). Likewise, an Australian resident is removed from the population if they leave Australia for 12 months or more (an overseas migrant departure). 

The 12 months does not have to be continuous and is measured over a 16-month period. This is important, as it means someone who has migrated to Australia can take a short trip outside Australia within the 16-month window and still count as a migrant arrival.

Being based solely on duration of presence in Australia (or absence from Australia), NOM estimates include all people regardless of their initial reason for travelling, country of citizenship or visa status; however foreign diplomatic personnel and their families are excluded.

ABS statistics on overseas migration are mainly compiled using information from the Department of Home Affairs, which provides the ABS with overseas border crossing records. From July 2017, due to the removal of the outgoing passenger card, the ABS has also used Medicare enrolment data as a secondary source of state of residence information for Australian residents.

Estimates for the latest four quarters available are preliminary and will be subject to future revisions. Preliminary estimates are based on outputs from a propensity model rather than the actual migration outcomes of each traveller. Care should be taken when using preliminary NOM tabulations that produce cells with small values as these may be subject to proportionally large revisions.

To create the preliminary estimates, the migration propensities determined for the donor groupings from one year earlier (or from 2018 where preliminary data was impacted by COVID-19) are applied to similarly grouped travellers from the reference quarter being estimated. For more information on preliminary estimates, refer to the ‘Processing the data’ section of the Overseas Migration Methodology.

There are a number of considerations to take into account when using the net overseas migration dataset in TableBuilder.

Overseas migrant departures are presented as negative numbers to represent their effect of Australia’s estimated resident population. The sum of overseas migrant arrivals and overseas migrant departures, presented as “Total” in this dataset, is therefore equivalent to net overseas migration.

Multiple variables can be cross-tabulated but caution must be applied when creating sparse tables. Where possible, create multiple smaller tables and avoid large tables with many empty cells. 

NOM statistics by visa group in this dataset are derived from the type of visa or citizenship held when the traveller migrates to or from Australia. These counts of number of migrations by visa type should not be confused with information on the number of visas granted (and also published) by the Department of Home Affairs.

Caution should be exercised when netting overseas migrant arrivals and departures by the visa and citizenship grouping variable. Careful consideration should be given to insights derived from net migration by visa, as individuals frequently depart on a different visa type than the one previously held at their time of arrival. As just one possible example, a person who arrives on a student visa may depart on a temporary skilled visa.

Visa applicant type is not applicable for Australian citizens and returning resident visas and is not available for a small number of some visas. It was not published for any estimates prior to September quarter 2011.

You can use this data in:

• TableBuilder - online tool for creating tables and graphs.

Further information about this product and other information to assist users in understanding and accessing TableBuilder in general is available from the Microdata and TableBuilder Entry Page.

For support in the use of this product, please contact us or email microdata.access@abs.gov.au.

Customised tables are available on a fee-for-service basis. Enquiries should be submitted via an Information consultancy form.

The ABS Privacy Policy outlines how the ABS handles any personal information that you provide to us.

The TableBuilder User Guide provides detailed instructions on how to build a table, work with tables, confidentiality processes and all other aspects of using the TableBuilder product.

Responsible use of ABS microdata and Conditions of Use explain your obligations as a user of ABS microdata products.

The data in TableBuilder is subject to a confidentiality process. This confidentiality process is undertaken to avoid releasing information that may allow the identification of individuals.

To confidentialise, data have been rounded to the nearest 10. As a result, sums of the components may not add exactly to totals. Calculations made on rounded data may differ to those published.

See confidentiality in the TableBuilder user guide for more details.

A complete list of data items included is provided in the Data downloads section. Data items include demographic, geographic and visa characteristics.