For the first time, English people are no longer Australia's top source of migrants, while nearly a third of the population was born overseas. New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has revealed that people born in India now constitute the largest group of Australian residents born in a different country.
The statistics show that 8.83 million people, out of a total population of 27.6 million, were born overseas, representing 32 per cent of the population. Among these 8.83 million migrants, nearly a million (971,020) were born in India, slightly exceeding the 970,950 born in England.
The last time the proportion of overseas-born residents was this high was in 1891, during the gold rush era. Australia's population has been steadily increasing since World War II, growing by 3.8 million over the past decade. English migration to Australia peaked in 2013 at over a million people and has been gradually declining since.
Chinese-born residents form the third largest group of non-Australian-born residents, with 732,000 people, also a record high. New Zealand migrants increased from 618,000 in 2024 to 638,000 in 2025, placing fourth, followed by migrants from the Philippines (412,539), rounding out the top five. The number of Filipino migrants has doubled in the past decade, with increasing numbers also from Vietnam, South Africa, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia.
The ABS figures also revealed that the average age of Australia's overseas-born population is 43, down from 46 in 2005. In contrast, the median age of the Australian-born population is 35, up from 33 in 2005. Australia now ranks eighth in the world for the number of migrants in its population.
Australia's 2025-26 permanent migration program allows 185,000 migrants through the skilled worker stream. However, in September last year, the Albanese government's migration policy faced criticism after an Australian National University report revealed that only 12 per cent of placements in the migration program were allocated to skilled workers from overseas. The report found that the majority of visas went to family members of skilled workers.
Immigration Minister Tony Burke has stated there will be no change to the permanent migration intake this financial year. Burke defended immigration despite reports and political commentary alleging that the Labor government has used migration policies to 'buy votes' ahead of elections. 'Modern Australia and multicultural Australia are the same thing,' Burke told reporters on April 15. 'When people say they love Australia — and I do, and almost everybody on this continent does — modern Australia is what they're loving, and we are a multicultural nation.'
MacroBusiness chief economist Leith van Onselen said last May that the high concentration of Chinese and Indian voters was likely to provide the Labor party with a solid, long-term voting bloc, helping secure safe seats in Sydney and Melbourne. 'We'll start getting voting blocs form where they might actually form an Indian political party that lobbies for interests that are favourable to Indians, whether it's more parental visas ... they'll create voting blocs and lobby groups that lobby for their interests but not necessarily in the greater interests of Australia,' he told the Daily Mail.
Opposition leader Angus Taylor recently said that 'immigration numbers are too high'. Australia's population is projected to reach 31.5 million by 2035.
