Migrants from the United Kingdom have long been Australia’s primary immigrant group and in 2020 there were 980,360 English-born people living in Australia. India and China held second and third place respectively with regard to Australia’s foreign-born population. The relative dominance of Asian countries in the list of top ten foreign-born residents of Australia represents a significant shift in Australia’s immigration patterns over the past few decades. Where European-born migrants had previously overshadowed other migrant groups, Australian migration figures are now showing greater migration numbers from neighboring countries in Asia and the Pacific.
A history of migration
Australia is often referred to as an ‘immigrant nation’, alongside the United States, Canada, and New Zealand. Before the Second World War, migrants to Australia were almost exclusively from the UK, however after 1945, Australia’s immigration policy was broadened to attract economic migrants and temporary skilled migrants. These policy changes saw and increase in immigrants particularly from Greece and Italy. Today, Australia maintains its status as an ‘’Immigrant nation’’, with almost 30 percent of the population born overseas and around 50 percent of the population having both that were born overseas.
Australian visas
The Australian immigration program has two main categories of visa, permanent and temporary. The permanent visa category offers three primary pathways: skilled, family and humanitarian. The skilled visa category is by far the most common, with more than a million permanent migrants living in Australia on this visa category at the last Australian census in 2016. Of the temporary visa categories, the higher education visa is the most popular, exceeding 102 thousand arrivals in 2019.
Number of foreign born population in Australia as of 2020, by country of birth
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Australian Bureau of Statistics. (April 23, 2021). Number of foreign born population in Australia as of 2020, by country of birth [Graph]. In Statista. Retrieved July 22, 2024, from https://www.statista.com/statistics/594722/australia-foreign-born-population-by-country-of-birth/
Australian Bureau of Statistics. "Number of foreign born population in Australia as of 2020, by country of birth." Chart. April 23, 2021. Statista. Accessed July 22, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/594722/australia-foreign-born-population-by-country-of-birth/
Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2021). Number of foreign born population in Australia as of 2020, by country of birth. Statista. Statista Inc.. Accessed: July 22, 2024. https://www.statista.com/statistics/594722/australia-foreign-born-population-by-country-of-birth/
Australian Bureau of Statistics. "Number of Foreign Born Population in Australia as of 2020, by Country of Birth." Statista, Statista Inc., 23 Apr 2021, https://www.statista.com/statistics/594722/australia-foreign-born-population-by-country-of-birth/
Australian Bureau of Statistics, Number of foreign born population in Australia as of 2020, by country of birth Statista, https://www.statista.com/statistics/594722/australia-foreign-born-population-by-country-of-birth/ (last visited July 22, 2024)
Number of foreign born population in Australia as of 2020, by country of birth [Graph], Australian Bureau of Statistics, April 23, 2021. [Online]. Available: https://www.statista.com/statistics/594722/australia-foreign-born-population-by-country-of-birth/