India-Born Residents Now Australia’s Largest Migrant Group on Record

India‑born residents have officially become Australia’s largest migrant group, narrowly overtaking those born in England in 2025, according to new government data that marks the first time this shift has occurred on record. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) estimates that, as of 30 June 2025, the country’s population was 27.6 million, of which 8.83 million people were born overseas, or 32 per cent of the total population.

That 32 per cent share matches levels last seen in 1891 at the height of late‑gold‑rush migration, after a mid‑20th‑century fall to a low of 9.8 per cent in 1947. Over the past decade, Australia’s population has grown by around 3.8 million, driven largely by continued migration, and the latest figures show India surpassing England as the top overseas country of birth. Australia Proposes 2.25% Tax on Meta, Google, TikTok Under News Bargaining Incentive to Support Journalism.

India Claims Top Spot

New ABS data show that 971,020 people living in Australia were born in India, making Indian‑born residents the largest overseas‑born group for the first time on record. That figure narrowly edges out English‑born residents, of whom there are 970,950 in 2025.

Over the past four years, the proportion of migrants from India has increased steadily, reflecting stronger student, skilled‑worker, and family‑migration pathways. By contrast, migration from England has trended downward over the past decade from a peak of just over a million in 2013, though the English‑born population has ticked up for a second consecutive year. Australian Minister Tony Burke Says He Is a Big Shah Rukh Khan Fan, Calls ‘Om Shanti Om’ His Favourite Bollywood Movie (Watch Video).

Other Major Migrant Groups

China remains the third‑largest group of non‑Australian‑born residents, with 732,000 people born there, up 32,000 from the 2024 high. New Zealand‑born migrants are fourth, with numbers rising from 618,000 in 2024 to 638,000 in 2025.

The Philippines rounds out the top five, with 412,530 migrants estimated in Australia in 2025, nearly double the count from 2015. The next largest groups of foreign‑born residents are Vietnam, South Africa, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Malaysia, each contributing substantial but smaller communities.

The ABS data also show that people born in Italy and England recorded the largest declines in their populations since 2015. Both groups have a median age of 60 or over, reflecting large post‑World War II migration waves.

The median age for Australia’s overseas‑born population is now 43, down from 46 in 2005, while the median age for the Australian‑born population is 35, up from 33 two decades ago. That gap underscores how newer migrant cohorts are, on average, younger than the shrinking postwar‑era communities.

Australia now sits eighth in the world for the number of migrants in its population, behind countries such as the United States, which hosts 52.38 million international migrants. The 2025–26 permanent migration program is set at 185,000 migrants, with most places allocated through the “skilled worker” stream.

Net overseas migration for 2025–26 is forecast at 260,000, below the post‑COVID peak in 2022–23. Immigration Minister Tony Burke has recently defended migration levels after the Coalition announced plans to reform Australia’s migration policy, arguing that new arrivals continue to support the economy and workforce.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Apr 30, 2026 10:15 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).