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Permanent migrants in Australia

Latest release

Characteristics of permanent migrants who arrived in Australia between 1 January 2000 and 10 August 2021.

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Reference period
2021

Key statistics

In August 2021:

  • there were 3.0 million permanent migrants in Australia who arrived since 2000
  • India was the top country of birth among permanent migrants (439,700 people)
  • 59% of permanent migrants were Australian citizens (1.8 million people)
  • 89% of permanent migrants reported being proficient in English (2.7 million people).

Of permanent migrants:

  • 58% were primary applicants – the remainder were secondary
  • 53% were female
  • 13% arrived in the five years prior to the 2021 Census.

The statistics used in this release are from the Australian Census and Migrants Integrated Dataset (ACMID) which links data from the 2021 Census of Population and Housing with the Department of Home Affairs Settlement Database.

Previous releases of these statistics were published in: Understanding Migrant Outcomes - Insights from the Australian Census and Migrants Integrated Dataset, Australia.

For more information on migrant data sources see Understanding migrant statistics in the Census and other data sources.

Visa stream

Permanent migrants by visa stream were made up of:

  • 59% Skilled (1,761,000 people)
  • 32% Family (962,400 people)
  • 9% Humanitarian (283,600 people).
  1. Includes Other permanent migrants.

Age

The median age of permanent migrants was 37 years, slightly lower than the median age of the Australian population (38 years) as reported in the 2021 Census.

Median ages by visa stream were:

  • Skilled (37 years)
  • Family (38 years)
  • Humanitarian (34 years).

The highest proportion of:

  • children (0 to 14 years) were in the Humanitarian stream (11%).
  • migrants aged 65 years or older were in the Family stream (10%).

Location

  • Most (87%) permanent migrants lived in capital cities.
  • The majority (56%) of permanent migrants lived in Greater Sydney and Greater Melbourne.
Permanent migrants in Greater Capital City Statistical Areas by visa stream
LocationSkilled (%)Family (%)Humanitarian (%)All permanent migrants(a) (%)
Greater Sydney27.332.530.529.3
Rest of New South Wales3.14.33.33.5
Greater Melbourne26.425.930.526.6
Rest of Victoria1.82.42.82.1
Greater Brisbane9.99.39.59.7
Rest of Queensland5.96.33.25.8
Greater Adelaide5.84.48.35.6
Rest of South Australia0.30.40.30.4
Greater Perth13.910.08.312.1
Rest of Western Australia1.21.10.31.1
Greater Hobart0.70.40.70.6
Rest of Tasmania0.30.40.70.4
Greater Darwin0.70.60.30.7
Rest of Northern Territory0.20.20.10.2
Australian Capital Territory2.21.71.32.0
Australia(b)100.0100.0100.0100.0
  1. Includes Other permanent migrants.
  2. ​​​​​Includes Other territories, no usual address and migratory, offshore and shipping areas.

Country of birth

  • India was the top country of birth among permanent migrants (15% or 439,700 people).
  • One in five Skilled migrants were born in India (20%).
  • Over one in five Humanitarian migrants were born in Iraq (22%).
Top 10 countries of birth of permanent migrants by visa stream(a), Count of persons
 Skilled Family HumanitarianAll permanent migrants(b)
1India 356,100China (c) 133,000Iraq 62,400India 439,700
2England 197,300India 81,900Afghanistan 30,700China (c)  334,900
3China (c) 196,500England 79,700Myanmar 21,100England  277,500
4Philippines 103,200Philippines 64,000Syria 20,900Philippines  167,400
5South Africa 101,300Vietnam 61,500Iran 17,300South Africa  118,200
6Australia (d) 65,300Thailand 34,400Sudan 12,300Vietnam  82,400
7Malaysia 52,000United States of America 27,300South Sudan 7,000Australia (d)  75,900
8Sri Lanka 48,300Indonesia 21,000Pakistan 6,600Iraq  72,700
9Korea, Republic of (South) 40,700Afghanistan 18,900Thailand 5,800Malaysia  69,200
10Pakistan 39,000Korea, Republic of (South) 18,700Ethiopia 5,700Sri Lanka  67,700
  1. Top 10 countries of birth by number for each visa stream.
  2. Includes Other permanent migrants.
  3. Excludes Taiwan and Special Administrative Regions (SARs) which comprise 'Hong Kong (SAR of China)' and 'Macau (SAR of China).’
  4. People born in Australia from parents who were temporary visa holders. Includes 'Australia, (includes External Territories), nfd', 'Norfolk Island' and 'Australian External Territories, nec'.

Australian citizenship

More than half (1.8 million or 59%) of permanent migrants were Australian citizens.

Australian citizenship by visa stream was:

  • Skilled (64%)
  • Family (47%)
  • Humanitarian (61%).

Of the top ten countries of birth, permanent migrants born in South Africa were the most likely to be Australian citizens (74%), the least likely were migrants born in China (36%).

Permanent migrants with Australian citizenship(a) for the top 10 countries of birth(b)
Country of birthProportion (%)(c)
South Africa73.8
Australia(d)71.7
Sri Lanka71.0
Philippines68.5
England65.9
India64.4
Vietnam60.6
Iraq55.4
Malaysia39.3
China(e)36.5
  1. Ordered from highest to lowest proportion of permanent migrants who were Australian citizens.
  2. Top ten countries of birth by number for permanent migrants.
  3. Citizenship not stated has been excluded from the totals when calculating proportions.
  4. People born in Australia from parents who were temporary visa holders. Includes 'Australia, (includes External Territories), nfd', 'Norfolk Island' and 'Australian External Territories, nec'.
  5. Excludes Taiwan and Special Administrative Regions (SARs) which comprise 'Hong Kong (SAR of China)' and 'Macau (SAR of China)'.

Health

Of permanent migrants:

  • 18% (535,400 people) had one or more long-term health conditions.

The proportion of permanent migrants with a long-term health condition varied by visa stream:

  • Skilled (16%)
  • Family (21%)
  • Humanitarian (23%).
  1. Long-term health condition not stated has been excluded from totals when calculating proportions.

The most prevalent long-term health condition for permanent migrants was Asthma (3.9%).

The highest reported long-term health conditions by visa stream were:

  • Skilled, Asthma (3.9%)
  • Family, Mental health condition (4.3%)
  • Humanitarian, Diabetes (5.9%).

Proficiency in English

  • Almost three quarters (2.2 million or 73%) of permanent migrants used a language other than English at home.
  • Humanitarian migrants were the most likely to use another language at home (94%).
  • Most permanent migrants (2.7 million or 89%) reported being proficient in English, that is they only spoke English or spoke English very well or well.
  1. Language not stated and English proficiency not stated have been excluded from totals when calculating proportions.
  2. Includes Other permanent migrants.
  3. Only spoke English or spoke English very well or well.
  • Just over 30% (101,800) of permanent migrants born in China were not proficient in English, the highest number of persons of all countries of birth.
  • Although 10,800 permanent migrants born in India were not proficient in English, this only represented 2.5% of all permanent migrants born in India.
Top 10 countries of birth(a) of permanent migrants not proficient in English(b)
Country of birthPersonsProportion (%)(c)
China(d) 101,800         30.5
Vietnam 32,500         39.5
Iraq 26,000         35.9
Afghanistan 15,700         31.6
Korea, Republic of (South) 13,700         23.1
Myanmar 12,900         47.9
India 10,800           2.5
Syria 9,200         36.7
Thailand 6,900         14.5
Cambodia 5,800         43.4
  1. Ordered from highest to lowest number of permanent migrants who were not proficient in English.
  2. Spoke another language and spoke English not well or not at all.
  3. As a proportion of permanent migrants who were born in each country. Language not stated and English proficiency not stated have been excluded from totals when calculating proportions.
  4. Excludes Taiwan and Special Administrative Regions (SARs) which comprise 'Hong Kong (SAR of China)' and 'Macau (SAR of China)'.

Education level

  • Most (91% or 2.4 million) permanent migrants aged 15 years and over had an education level of Year 10 or above. This was slightly higher than people aged 15 years and over in the Australian population (89%) as reported in the 2021 Census.
  • Just over half (51% or 1.4 million) of permanent migrants held a Bachelor degree or higher. This was higher compared to the Australian population (29% of people aged 15 years and over held a Bachelor degree or higher).
  1. Includes Bachelor degree, Graduate diploma and graduate certificate and Postgraduate degree.
  2. Educational attainment not stated has been excluded from totals when calculating proportions.
  3. Includes Other permanent migrants.

Employment and income

Of permanent migrants aged 15 years and over:

  • 71% were employed, 4% were unemployed, and 24% were not in the labour force.
  • Skilled migrants were the most likely to be employed (81%).
  • Half of Humanitarian migrants (50%) were not in the labour force.
  • Three quarters (75%) of primary applicants were employed, compared with 64% of secondary applicants.
  • The age group most likely to be employed was 35-44 years (81%), and least likely was 65 years and over (12%).
  1. Labour force status not stated has been excluded from totals when calculating proportions.
  2. Includes Other permanent migrants.
  1. Labour force status not stated has been excluded from totals when calculating proportions.

For employed permanent migrants, the most common occupation by visa stream was:

  • Business, Human Resource and Marketing Professionals (10%) for Skilled migrants
  • Carers and Aides for both Family migrants (10%) and Humanitarian migrants (14%).
Top 10 occupations(a) of employed permanent migrants
OccupationPersonsProportion (%)(b)
Business, Human Resource and Marketing Professionals158,5008.2
Specialist Managers148,1007.7
Health Professionals147,4007.7
Carers and Aides135,2007.0
ICT Professionals107,5005.6
Design, Engineering, Science and Transport Professionals85,6004.5
Sales Assistants and Salespersons79,5004.1
Hospitality, Retail and Service Managers73,9003.8
Education Professionals62,0003.2
Numerical Clerks58,1003.0
  1. Top 10 occupations by number of persons.
  2. Occupation not stated has been excluded from totals when calculating proportions.

The median individual weekly income of permanent migrants aged 15 years and over was $963. This was higher than the median for the total Australian population aged 15 years and over ($805) as reported in the 2021 Census.

Median individual weekly incomes by visa stream were:

  • Skilled ($1,234)
  • Family ($724)
  • Humanitarian ($478).
  1. Income not stated has been excluded from totals when calculating proportions.

Visa transitions

  • The majority (1.7 million or 58%) of permanent migrants were granted a permanent visa as their first visa.
  • A permanent visa was the first visa for most Humanitarian migrants (93%), followed by Family (75%) and Skilled (43%).
  • For 1.3 million permanent migrants, the first visa granted was a temporary visa. For all permanent visa streams, this was most commonly a Temporary Student visa.
  • Almost 70% of permanent migrants whose first visa was temporary, moved to a permanent visa in less than five years. This proportion was higher for Humanitarian migrants (82%).
First visa type(a) by permanent visa stream(b)
First visa typeSkilled (%)Family (%)Humanitarian (%)All permanent migrants(c)(%)
Temporary Skilled21.91.70.313.4
Temporary Student25.812.83.719.6
Temporary Working Holiday Maker4.48.80.15.4
Temporary Other2.71.63.22.4
Special Category (New Zealand Citizen)2.10.60.01.4
Permanent visa43.274.692.657.9
Total100.0100.0100.0100.0
  1. First temporary visa determined from visa history data from Home Affairs. Where a person has not held a valid temporary visa for 12 months or longer, the visas before this break are excluded. Bridging and visitor visas are also excluded. See Methodology for more information on visa definitions.
  2. First temporary visa unknown has been excluded from totals when calculating proportions.
  3. Includes Other permanent migrants.
  1. First temporary visa determined from visa history data from Home Affairs. Where a person has not held a valid temporary visa for 12 months or longer, the visas before this break are excluded. Bridging and visitor visas are also excluded. See Methodology for more information on visa definitions.
  2. As a proportion of permanent migrants whose first visa was temporary.
  3. The time taken statistics are based on a person’s first permanent visa. This differs from all other statistics, graphs and tables in this release which are based on the latest permanent visa listed in the Settlement Database.
  4. Includes Other permanent visas.

Data downloads

Permanent migrants in Australia 2021 Datacube

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Methodology

Permanent migrants in Australia methodology, 2021

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