Indians have overtaken the English as Australia's largest migrant group for the first time, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). As of 30 June 2025, there were 971,020 India-born people living in Australia, making up roughly 5.2 per cent of the population, narrowly surpassing the 970,950 people born in England.
The India-born population has surged over the past decade, while the number of England-born residents has steadily declined from one million in 2013. China-born people ranked third with 732,000, followed by New Zealand with 638,000. Other significant migrant groups came from the Philippines, Vietnam, South Africa, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia.
Australia had 8.8 million overseas-born residents in 2025, accounting for about 32 per cent of the total population of 27.6 million. The ABS noted that the median age of overseas-born residents fluctuated, peaking at 46 years in 2002 and decreasing to 44 years in 2019. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic and reduced migration of younger people, the median age rose to 45 years in 2021.
The share of overseas-born residents is approaching its highest level on record, last seen at 32.4 per cent in 1891. While migration has long supported Australia's economic growth, it has become a political flashpoint amid the country's worst housing shortage in decades. This has boosted support for the populist One Nation party, whose leader Pauline Hanson has long campaigned against immigration.
The Australian Human Rights Commission has warned that job insecurity and technological change are driving anti-immigration rhetoric. Commission president Hugh de Krester stated that while a sensible debate on migration policy is possible, 'too often this debate is demonising migrants and driving polarisation and racism, and it is wrong.'
