Australia’s population has increased by over half a million people in the last year, with net migration being the main factor, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has revealed, also noting that this is a record high.
According to Jenny Dobrak, ABS head of migration statistics, overseas migration has reached all-time highs; the cycle of migration is not related to the one noticed before the COVID-19 pandemic, VisaGuide.World reports.
Many potential migrants didn’t come to Australia in 2020 and 2021 because of border closures and other pandemic impacts. During this time, temporary visa holders recorded the largest declines in arrivals. In 2022-23, the number of migrants arriving on temporary visas has gone up, but the number departing has reduced slightly.
Dobrak also revealed that migrant arrivals increased by 73 percent compared to the previous year, while migrant departures reached record lows, decreasing by two percentage points.
Migration was especially high during March 2020, with 618 migrant arrivals, while the lowest was recorded in March 2021, when migrant arrivals stood at 113.
The same pattern is noticed in net overseas migration, where one of the highest rates was recorded during the same period, 239 before it fell to -94 in March of 2021.
Migrant departures, although, were more stable than other net migration and migrant arrivals, but in March of 2022, it dropped to -379.
Moreover, the number of migrant departures in the last year dropped to 219,000 people, down from 223,000 the year before.
Due to the impact of travel restrictions during the pandemic, many temporary migrants currently living in Australia have only arrived relatively recently and are not yet required to leave. This has resulted in a smaller number of migrant departures in 2022-23.
She also noted that before the pandemic, there was a constant flow of temporary migrants arriving and departing. This practice has not returned to a regular pattern and has caused the net overseas migration in 2022-23 to increase.
However, many of those who have arrived, especially those on temporary visas, such as international students, can leave the country in the upcoming years, which will impact overseas migration.
As per the nationality of those arriving in Australia last year, the majority were Indians, followed by Chinese, Filipinos, British and Australians, while the median age of migrant arrivals was 27, and for migrant departures, it was 33.