What Australia can learn from 165 years of migration data
This article examines Australia's historical migration trends, comparing current record-high net overseas migration to past periods since 1860. It contextualizes recent spikes and dips, including the impact of COVID-19 border closures, within the broader history of Australian immigration policy.
Why it matters
Understanding long-term migration data is essential for informed public debate regarding population growth and national immigration policy.
Link copied Share Share article The story of Australia since colonisation is a story of migration, and the country's immigration system is once more at the centre of heated political debate.
But how accurate are claims that immigrants are arriving in record numbers? And is this the biggest shift in the country's population ever?
This chart tracks a figure known as "net overseas migration", or NOM for shorthand.
It sounds complicated but what we're looking at is the number of people who arrive in Australia, minus the number of people who leave.
This captures the movements of everyone who comes or goes for an extended period of time, including Australian citizens.
NOM peaked between 2022 and 2023 with 538,000 people. But two years earlier, it had plummeted into negative territory for the first time in decades, with 85,000 more people leaving Australia than arriving.
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