Australia's population climbs to 26.6 million as migration hits record levels

Australia's population has soared to 26.6 million people, rising 2.4 per cent in the past year, as overseas migration reaches record levels, new data has found.

Australia gained 624,100 people in the year to June 2023, with major contributors being natural increase - where the number of births outweighs deaths - and overseas migration, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS). 

While the ABS reported that births decreased by 4.1 per cent over the year to 295,000, deaths increased by 3.6 per cent to 189,000.

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Overseas migration has risen dramatically by 72.7 per cent in the past year, reported the ABS.

"There were 737,200 overseas migration arrivals and 219,100 departures, adding 518,100 people to our population from overseas migration," ABS head of demography Beidar Cho said.

"People arriving on temporary visas, such as international students were the main contributor to the arrivals, with the number of departures remaining low as the cycle of arrivals and departures have not yet returned to typical pre-pandemic patterns."

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The ABS found that NSW was the most popular destination for overseas migrants, followed by Victoria and Queensland.

"Western Australia had the fastest rise in population, growing 3.1 per cent over the previous year," Cho said.

"This was followed by Victoria, which grew by 2.7 per cent, and Queensland which saw a 2.6 per cent rise."

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Tasmania was the state with the least amount of growth at 0.3 per cent, found the ABS.

Looking into the future, the ABS predicts that the Australian population will reach 45.5 million by 2070.