New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows migrants in Australia have never been a more diverse bunch, with the spread of places where they come from broader than ever before.
The ABS has charted Australia’s overseas-born population since federation. It found that in 1901 more than 90 per cent of the migrant population, or 741,000 people, were from North-West Europe. Just 33,000 were from North-East Asia, 12,600 were from Southern and Eastern Europe and 12,500 were from the Americas.
In 1954, the number of migrants from North-East Europe had grown to 815,000 but had shrunk as a proportion of the migrant population to about 60 per cent.
Migrants from Southern Europe numbered 346,000 or about 34 per cent. Migrants from Oceania numbered around 50,000, or about five per cent of the migrant population.
By 1981, migrants from North-West Europe numbered 1.4 million, or around 44 per cent of the migrant population. Migrants from Southern Europe numbered 840,000, or about 30 per cent of the migrant population.
People from Oceania numbered 200,000, or about seven per cent of the migrant population. Almost 375,000, or about eight per cent of migrants, were from South-East Asia.
Seventy-four thousand people were from North Africa and the Middle East. More than 90,000 were from the Americas and 58,000 were from sub-Saharan Africa.
And now…
In 2021, there were 1.53 million migrants from North-West Europe – still the largest proportion at about 13 per cent. But 1.2 million people, or about 11 per cent of all migrants were from Southern and Central Asia.
More than 1.1 million people, or about eight per cent of all migrants, were from South-East Asia. About 904,000, or about six per cent, were from North-East Asia, 770,000 were from Oceania and 709,000 were from Southern or Eastern Europe.
Migrants from North Africa and the Middle East numbered 495,000, or about 3.5 per cent of migrants, while those from sub-Saharan Africa numbered 406,000 and migrants from the Americas numbered 378,000.
CEO of migrant and refugee settlement agency AMES Australia CEO Cath Scarth said the findings are a reminder of the benefits multiculturalism brings to Australia.
‘In 1901, most migrants were from northern Europe. Now, there’s a more even spread of people from all over the globe – and that is a strength,’ said Ms Scarth.
‘Over more than a century, successive waves of migrants have made huge contributions to building modern Australia and that continues today,’ she said. ‘Our migration and refugee programs have helped define who we are, and they have helped to build the social cohesion we enjoy.
‘Multiculturalism is certainly at the heart of Australia’s modern identity but the high levels of social cohesion we are enjoy are not a given,’ she said. ‘We need to constantly nurture and bolster social cohesion and our multicultural institutions, both formal and informal.
‘The data presents an opportunity to reassert our commitment to multiculturalism and to recognise the benefits it brings to all Australians at a time when divisiveness and xenophobia is on the rise across the globe,’ Ms Scarth said.
You can see the complete ABS data here.
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