Where do Australia’s migrants come from?
The Department of Home Affairs has revealed India is the largest source of migrants to Australia.
The total permanent Migration Program outcome for 2018-19 was 160,323 places, of which 33,611 places went to Indian citizens.
China with 24,282 places ranked second largest source of migrants while the United Kingdom with 13,689 places came in third.
The top ten citizenship countries of migrants:
Indians are the third-largest migrant group in Australia
The recent migration trend has resulted in the exponential growth of the Indian population in Australia.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) in 2019 revealed the Indian population had grown from 455,389 in 2016 to 592,000 in 2018 and accounted for 2.4% of the Australian population.
After England and China, India is now the third-largest migrant group in Australia.
The trend has also resulted in Indian migrants being the top source of new Australian citizens. Over 28,000 Indian nationals became Australian citizens last year.
Skilled migrants top the list
Of all the permanent places granted in 2018-19, the Skill Stream accounted for 69.8 per cent of the migration program.
In 2018-19, 109,713 places were delivered in the Skill Stream, 47,247 places were delivered in the Family stream and 115 places were delivered in the Special Eligibility stream.
Within the skill stream:
- The Permanent Employer Sponsored Entry (PESE) category had an outcome of 42,012 places.
- The General Skilled Migration (GSM) had an outcome of 60,240 places.
- The Business Innovation and Investment Program (BIIP) had an outcome of 7261 places and
- The Distinguished Talent category had an outcome of 200 places
“Demand for places in the Skill stream has decreased by 11.8 per cent in the 2018-19 program year compared with 2017-18. There were 118,076 first stage applications received in the Skill stream in 2018-19 compared to 133,856 first stage applications in 2017-18,” the report states.
Demand for Family Stream rises
47,247 places were granted permanent residency within the family stream in 2018-19.
With 39,918 places, partner visas accounted for 84.5 per cent of the 2018-19 Family stream outcome. 5587 places went to the Contributory Parent and 1218 places went to Non-contributory Parent category.
The Family Stream category has seen a huge increase in demand with 200,779 applications pending as of June 30 2019.
“Demand for places in the Family stream in 2018-19 was 5.1 per cent higher than in 2017-18.
“The pipeline at 30 June 2019 was 200,779 first stage applications.
“The Partner category accounted for 44.2 per cent of the Family stream pipeline. Contributory Parent and Non-Contributory Parent categories accounted for 26.3 per cent and 24.9 per cent of the total Family stream pipeline, respectively,” the report states.
