Aussie immigration surged higher in January

Last week’s Q4 national accounts suggested that Australia’s population grew by a record 680,000 people in 2023, which is the equivalent of around 1.5 Canberra’s.

On Thursday, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released net permanent and long-term arrivals data for January, which showed that annual net arrivals hit a record 482,000:

The next chart plots the above series against official quarterly net overseas migration, which hit a record 518,000 in the year to 30 June 2023:

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.