Australia’s population hits 28 million as current trends continue

Australia’s population has now reached over 28 million people, according to estimates from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The milestone was reached at around 6am, with the official calculations from the bureau estimating that Australia gains a new citizen every 75 seconds.

New births, deaths and people arriving to live in Australia are taken into account to complete the estimation, which was last changed on July 1, 2025.

It took just over two years for the Australian population to climb from 27 million to 28 million, with estimates placing the Australian population at 27,594,464 at the end of 2025.

The population has grown by just under 2.5 million since 2020, with the COVID-19 pandemic slowing population growth due to less migration and higher deaths from the disease.

Based on the current algorithm, Australia’s population should hit 29 million people sometime in 2028, and could reach 30 million by 2031.

Australia has around 8.3 million of its citizens born overseas, with England for decades being the number one country for migration.

However, recent data suggested they had been knocked out of top spot, with India now being the most common country of birth other than Australia.

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As of June 30 last year, it was estimated 971,020 Australian citizens were born in India, while 970.950 were born in England.

Australia’s immigration rose sharply after the COVID-19 pandemic, and the federal government wanted to make sure it was kept at a sustainable level.

However, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke insisted immigrants and migration were still crucial to Australia’s economy and society.

“You need to make sure that we don’t end up with our farmers not being able to get people to pick their fruit,” he said in a press conference earlier this year.

“You need to make sure that you don’t wreck your aged care system”.