Net overseas migration has fallen to its lowest level since the depths of the COVID-19 pandemic, but new figures show immigrants continue to drive Australia’s population growth.

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, released this morning, showed that in the June quarter net overseas migration fell to 63,200. In the March quarter, it had been 133,500 while in the June quarter last year, it had been 120,500.

Through the 2023-24 financial year, a net 445,638 migrants moved into the country, the lowest intake since late 2022.

In the June quarter alone, overseas arrivals fell by 35 per cent while departures from Australia increased by 7.9 per cent.

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Despite the fall, net overseas migration was far higher than the government had expected. It had forecast 395,000 net overseas migrants this year, falling to 260,000 for the current financial year.
Australia’s total population grew by 552,000 in the just completed financial year, an increase of 2.1 per cent.

NSW added 19,476 people through the quarter, the smallest increase since the December quarter of 2021. Over the year, the state added 143,200 residents.

Victoria’s population grew by 24,679 in the quarter, the smallest quarterly since June 2022. It added 165,100 residents over the past 12 months.

The fastest growing state in percentage terms remains Western Australia, with its population up by 13,360 in the quarter and 81,400 since the June quarter last year.

The ABS noted the fertility rate remained at a record low of 1.5 per woman. There were 72,100 births in the quarter, offset by 46,100 deaths.