While historically the United Kingdom has provided the largest number of immigrants, recent data shows India is currently the leading source country, with significant recent growth in migrants from India, China, and the Philippines, making them the top countries for new arrivals and population growth, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics and Department of Home Affairs.
The countries with the most permanent migrants to Australia (excluding those with a humanitarian profile) for 2023–24 are:
Australia's top nationalities, based on the country of birth, consistently feature England, India, China, and New Zealand, with England often leading, followed by India and China experiencing significant growth in recent years, and New Zealand also holding a strong position in the foreign-born population.
Migrants from the United Kingdom have long been Australia's primary immigrant group and in 2023 there were roughly 960 thousand English-born people living in Australia. India and China held second and third place respectively with regard to Australia's foreign-born population.
Ancestries
No, Australia is not 90% white; while a large majority identify with European ancestry (around 76-80% in recent years), a significant and growing portion identifies as Asian, African, Middle Eastern, or Indigenous, making it a highly multicultural nation with diverse ethnic backgrounds, not overwhelmingly white. Recent census data shows European ancestry (English, Irish, etc.) makes up a large chunk, but Asian ancestries are also substantial, with over 17% Asian population and around 3.8% identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, per the 2021 census data from Wikipedia.
The Australian genome clusters together with Highland Papua New Guinea (PNG) samples and is thus positioned roughly between South and East Asians. Apart from the neighboring Bougainville Papuans, the closest populations to the Aboriginal Australian are the Munda speakers of India and the Aeta from the Philippines (Fig.
Countries by Australian diaspora
According to the United Nations, in 2024 the United States, Germany, Saudi Arabia, France and the United Kingdom had the largest numbers of immigrants of any country, while Tuvalu, Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha, and Tokelau had the lowest.
At the 2021 census, the most commonly nominated Anglo-Celtic ancestries were: English Australian: 8,395,928. Irish Australian: 2,410,833. Scottish Australian: 2,176,777.
As of late 2025/early 2026, India has surpassed China to become the world's most populous country, with both nations having populations exceeding 1.4 billion people, followed by the United States, Indonesia, and Pakistan.
In 2019, the majority of international visitors to Australia were from China, New Zealand, the United States and the UK, with visitors from China growing substantially from the early 2000s. Growth in tourism in 2019 was led by education and holiday travel.
Is it cheaper to live in Australia or America? It depends on where you're comparing. Major U.S. cities like New York or San Francisco are typically more expensive than Sydney or Melbourne, but overall living costs—especially groceries and housing—can be higher in Australia due to import prices and taxes.
The latter, in effect, is an adjustment to the former to incorporate the 12/16 rule, whereby an arrival counts as an overseas migrant arrival if the person stays in Australia for 12 of the following 16 months.
Net overseas migration
In 2024-25, the top five countries of birth for people migrating to and from Australia were China, Australia, India, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.
It's official! Adelaide is the happiest city in Australia, and one of the happiest in the world! 🙌 We ranked #29 globally in the Happy City Index across six categories - environment, economy, mobility, citizen wellbeing, health and governance.
The 2021 Census tells us about where we live: Almost 80 per cent of Australian residents live in eastern Australia in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory. NSW continues to be the largest state with over 8 million people, with Victoria not far behind with 6.5 million people.
Demographics. Based on the 2021 census, the total Jewish population is estimated to be 117,000. About 90 percent of the Australian Jewish community live in Sydney and Melbourne. The Jewish Community Council of Victoria has estimated that 60,000 Australian Jews live in Victoria.
Refugees in Australia get money based on their visa status and situation, with permanent visa holders receiving similar Centrelink payments (like JobSeeker, Family Tax Benefit) as other residents, while asylum seekers (temporary visas) often get much less, around 89% of JobSeeker through the SRSS program, sometimes with housing provided, though support has decreased, leaving many in hardship and relying on charities like Red Cross for extra help.
Australia supports a two-state solution, recognizing the legitimate aspirations of both Israelis and Palestinians for peace and security, and has recently taken steps to support Palestinian statehood, while also maintaining ties with Israel and condemning Hamas's actions, reflecting a complex, evolving policy balancing support for Palestinian rights with historical ties to Israel and security concerns.
With respect to ABO groups, group O is the most common blood group in Aboriginal communities in Northern Australia, such as Cape York, the Northern region and Kimberley. Group A is the second most common blood group in the Aboriginal community, mainly in Central Australia, whereas groups B and AB are uncommon [6].
The San people of southern Africa, who have lived as hunter-gatherers for thousands of years, are likely to be the oldest population of humans on Earth, according to the biggest and most detailed analysis of African DNA.
Studies of Aboriginal groups' genetic makeup are ongoing, but evidence suggests that they have genetic inheritance from ancient Asian peoples.