It’s official: Australia has lost 74k migrants during pandemic

It’s official. Australia has lost 73,900 migrants since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, according to Q4 population data released yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS):

Three consecutive quarters of negative NOM.

As shown above, Australia has recorded three consecutive quarters of negative net overseas migration (NOM), specifically:

• -7,800 in Q2 2020
• -41,200 in Q3 2020
• -24,900 in Q4 2020

All major jurisdictions experienced negative NOM over these three quarters, as illustrated below. Victoria (-40,938) has been hardest hit:

Victoria has been hit hardest by the loss of migrants.

Because of the loss of migrants, the nation’s population only grew by 23,600 over the last three quarters of 2020:

Big slowdown in population growth.

Over the same three quarter period, Victoria lost 30,700 people whereas the other major states all gained population:

Victoria loses lots of people.

The latest federal budget projected negative NOM of -96,600 in 2020-21 and -77,400 in 2021-22:

The federal budget projected negative NOM in 2020-21 and 2021-22.

The 2020-21 projection is likely to be exceeded based on these figures.