Sydney and Melbourne consistently attract the most immigrants to Australia, with Sydney often having the highest proportions of overseas-born residents and Melbourne leading in total numbers of new international migrants in recent years, making them Australia's most multicultural cities, although Perth also shows strong growth in its migrant population.
Sydney records the strongest out-migration, with more people moving out than in. Melbourne shows smaller losses, while Brisbane, Perth and regional centres are key destinations for movers.
Western Australia, with 528,827 overseas-born residents, had the highest proportion of foreign-born population.
Based on UK census data from 2021 (2022 in Scotland), London emerges as the most popular destination for migrants (Figure 1). Although less than 10% of the total UK-born population lived in London, the city was home to one-third of the total foreign-born population in the country.
Toronto is the capital city of Ontario and is the largest city, with an increasing number of immigrants in Canada all over the world. Toronto is the most preferred city for migrants from across the globe. This largest city provides opportunities in diverse industries ranging from Finance, technology.
For now, let's look at the fastest growing US cities in 2025.
U.S. is Still Home to the Most Migrants
By total population, the U.S. recorded the highest number of international migrants in 2024 at 52.4 million.
In 2023, most of the nation's 51.8 million immigrants lived in just four states. California was home to 11.3 million immigrants, or 28.4% of the national total. Texas had the second-largest immigrant population with over 6 million foreign-born residents, followed by Florida (5.4 million) and New York (5.0 million).
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The largest immigrant group in Australia has historically been people born in England (United Kingdom), remaining the top country of birth for overseas-born residents for many years, but people born in India have seen the largest growth and are now the second-largest group, with China and New Zealand also having significant populations. While the UK still leads overall as the single largest community, recent trends show a significant shift towards Asian countries, especially India, in terms of new migrants and population growth.
AMES Australia provides various types of accommodation support to newly arrived refugees and humanitarian entrants based on need. Accommodation support may include: 28 days funded accommodation on-arrival.
NSW had the highest level of net overseas migration with 186,433 people arriving, followed by Victoria (161,758) and Queensland (87,954). The Northern Territory had the lowest level with 3,189 people.
Sydney is generally considered Australia's richest city, often topping lists for high-net-worth individuals, property values, and its strong financial sector, though Melbourne consistently ranks close behind, with both cities featuring in global wealth reports alongside Perth and Brisbane. Sydney leads in overall wealth indicators and is Australia's financial hub, while expensive suburbs are found across these major cities, including some in Western Australia and Victoria.
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.
During the 1850s gold rush, a flood of hopefuls from all over the world arrived to try their luck. This lead to further Aboriginal dispossessions, especially inland from the early Melbourne settlement. The influx saw the arrival of significant numbers of Chinese people.
In the 2017–18 period, Brisbane, Melbourne, and Sydney LGAs recorded the highest net overseas migration figures, highlighting these cities as key hubs for new arrivals.
More than 74 percent of Hialeah's residents are foreign-born — the majority of them migrants from Cuba. Miami itself is the only other major U.S. city in which over half of its residents are foreign-born. In both Fremont, California and Santa Ana, California, immigrants make up more than 40 percent of the population.
Mexico is the leading source country of undocumented immigration to the United States.
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.
Canada. As one of the most welcoming countries in the world to immigrants, Canada has a long history of welcoming immigrants. Canada is considered by the United Nations to be one of the best countries in the world to live in.
Highly skilled migrants can have a significant positive impact on the labour market where they are able to fill skill-shortages, and where they bring a new set of skills to complement UK workers, increasing overall productivity.
There isn't one single "fastest-growing" city, as it depends on the metric (absolute numbers vs. percentage) and time frame, but Melbourne often leads in absolute population growth (largest number of new residents) for major cities, while Perth and regional areas like Mandurah (WA) and parts of Victoria (Surf Coast, Mitchell, Melton) show very high percentage growth, driven by migration, lifestyle, and affordability. For recent periods (2022-23), Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, and Brisbane added the most people, with Melbourne and Perth having the highest growth rates among capitals.
Fastest Growing Cities in the US
Big Cities Still Draw the Most Movers
New York City tops the list with more than 702,000 new residents in 2024, even though only 20% came from out of state. Los Angeles (371,000) and Houston (356,000) also remain top destinations, driven by work opportunities and cultural influence.