Three in 10 Australian residents born overseas: statistics bureau

Number of overseas-born people living in Australia is expected to fall significantly in 2020 on account of Covid-19

CANBERRA: Almost 30 percent of the Australian population was born overseas, data has revealed. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), 7.53 million people living in Australia were not born in the country, representing 29.7 per cent of the total population of about 25.3 million.

Those born in England remained the largest group, accounting for 3.9 per cent of the population, followed by Chinese-born people who made up 2.7 per cent of the Australian population.

India and New Zealand were third and fourth.

"People born in England continued to be the largest group of overseas-born residents, accounting for 986,000 people," Jenny Dobak, the ABS director of Migration Statistics, said in a media release on Tuesday.

"However, this has dropped from just over 1 million people recorded between 2012 and 2016.

"People born in Sri Lanka represented the tenth largest group of overseas-born residents, accounting for 140,000 people, and replacing Scotland in the top 10."

In the 12 months to the end of June 2019, approximately 538,000 people arrived to live in Australia while 298,000 people left the country to live abroad. Of the migrant arrivals, 64 per cent were temporary visa holders including 32 per cent who were international students.

The number of overseas-born people living in Australia is expected to fall significantly in 2020 on account of the Covid-19.

Thousands of international students have been unable to enter the country because of travel bans.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison earlier in April advised visitor visa holders and international students that it was time to go home, declaring that "Australia must focus on its citizens and its residents to ensure that we can maximise the economic supports that we have."