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Australia is a multicultural country with one of the most ethnically diverse populations in the world. The country's population has quadrupled since the end of World War I, largely due to immigration. In 2019, immigrants accounted for 30% of the population, with Asia being the largest source of immigrants in the 21st century. The Australian Bureau of Statistics does not collect data on race, but asks residents to nominate up to two ancestries each census. At the 2021 census, 57.2% of responses were categorised as European, 33.8% as Oceanian, 17.4% as Asian, 3.2% as North African and Middle Eastern, 1.4% as Peoples of the Americas, and 1.3% as Sub-Saharan African.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Population | 24 million |
| Population density | 3.4/km2 (8.8/sq mi) |
| Median age | Not found |
| Top 5 ancestries | English (33%), Australian (29.9%), Irish (9.5%), Scottish (8.6%), Chinese (5.5%) |
| Aboriginal population | 3% |
| Immigrant population | 30% |
| Top countries of birth (excluding Australia) | England, India, China, New Zealand, Philippines |
| Top 5 religious affiliations | No religion (38.9%), Catholic (20%), Anglican (9.8%), Islam (3.2%), Hinduism (2.7%) |
| Number of Indigenous languages | 250 |
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What You'll Learn
European Australians
The largest group of European Australians are Anglo-Celtic Australians, whose ancestors come from the British Isles, including England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. In 2019, 67.4% of the population was of British descent, making them the majority ethnic group in Australia. Other significant European ancestries include Italian, German, Greek, Dutch, Polish, and Scandinavian.
The history of European Australian demographics is closely tied to the country's history of immigration and colonisation. Before British colonisation in 1788, Australia was inhabited by over 500 different Indigenous groups, each with its own language, culture, and belief system. Dutch explorers were the first Europeans to arrive in Australia in 1606, but it was the British who decided to colonise the land. The first colony was established as a place for exiled prisoners from other parts of the world, and continued immigration forced the native inhabitants out of their territories. Between 1788 and the Second World War, the vast majority of settlers and immigrants came from the British Isles, with significant immigration from China and Germany during the 19th century.
In the decades following World War II, Australia received a large wave of immigration from across Europe, particularly Southern and Eastern Europe. Since the end of the White Australia policy in 1973, Australia has pursued an official policy of multiculturalism, and there has been a large and continuing wave of immigration from around the world, with Asia being the largest source of immigrants in the 21st century.
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Chinese Australians
The history of Chinese Australians dates back over 200 years, with early links between China and Australia when Macau and Canton served as important trading ports with the fledgling colony. Mak Sai Ying, also known as John Shying, was the first officially recorded Chinese migrant in 1818. However, it was the Australian Gold Rushes in the mid-1800s that lured thousands of Chinese immigrants to the country. By 1855, Melbourne had seen 11,493 Chinese arrivals, and by 1858, 42,000 Chinese immigrants had arrived in Victoria. Many early Chinese immigrants established Chinatowns in major cities like Sydney and Melbourne, with most speaking dialects within the Yue dialect group.
In the 20th century, the end of the White Australia Policy in the 1960s and 1973 brought new waves of immigration from the Chinese diaspora, including refugees from Vietnam and Cambodia, and economic immigrants from Hong Kong and Taiwan. More recent Chinese migrants include those from Mandarin-speaking regions of China, as well as other Chinese dialects or forms. According to the 2021 census, 1,390,637 Australian residents, or 5.5% of the total population, identified themselves as having Chinese ancestry. Many Chinese Australians have immigrated from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines, while many others are descendants of such immigrants.
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Aboriginal Australians
The ancestors of present-day Aboriginal Australians migrated from Southeast Asia by sea during the Pleistocene epoch, making them among the first in the world to have completed sea voyages. They are genetically most closely related to other Oceanians, such as Papuans and Melanesians, who are collectively referred to as "Australasians".
At the time of British colonisation, the Aboriginal population is estimated to have been between 300,000 and one million people. Soon after colonisation, epidemics ravaged the Indigenous populations, and British settlers seized their lands, leading to violent conflicts that caused the deaths of thousands. Researchers have documented at least 270 massacres of Aboriginal Australians during the country's first 140 years, and many consider this to constitute genocide.
In the 2021 census, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people comprised 3.8% of Australia's population, although this number is expected to rise to 1.2 million by 2031. Most Aboriginal people today speak English and live in cities, but many also speak the traditional languages of their clans and peoples.
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Anglo-Celtic Australians
Australia is a diverse country with a population of around 24 million, most of whom live in urban areas. The country has pursued an official policy of multiculturalism since the postwar period, and its population has quadrupled since the end of World War I, largely due to immigration. In 2019, immigrants accounted for 30% of the population, the eighth-largest immigrant population in the world.
Tasmania may have the nation's highest proportion of citizens of Anglo-Celtic origin, with up to 85% of the population. Melbourne and Sydney, particularly certain regions like Western Sydney, have the lowest rates. The United Kingdom remains a significant source of immigrants to Australia, with 21.4% of all migrants in 2005-06 originating from there.
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Asian Immigration
In the late 19th century, the trade union movement in Australia raised concerns about the impact of foreign labour from Asia on Australian workers, leading to legislation aimed at curbing Chinese immigration. This contributed to the marginalization and exploitation of Asian immigrants, who faced limited access to better wages and working conditions. The Immigration Restriction Act of 1901, also known as the "White Australia policy," further restricted non-European immigration and made it challenging for Asians to settle in the country.
After World War II, Australia experienced a large wave of immigration from Europe. However, the country also began to expand access to citizenship for non-Europeans in the 1950s and 1960s. The 1950s also saw the establishment of the Colombo Plan, which sponsored Asian students to study in Australian institutions, improving relations between the two regions. In 1966, the immigration ministry began allowing skilled and professional non-Europeans to immigrate, further increasing immigration from non-European countries.
In 1973, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam took steps to dismantle the discriminatory immigration policies of the past, implementing a more inclusive approach. This shift in policy led to an increase in Asian immigration, with Asia becoming the largest source of immigrants to Australia in the 21st century. At the 2021 census, 17.4% of the population identified as Asian, with Chinese Australians forming the single largest non-Anglo-Celtic ancestry group at 5.5%.
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Frequently asked questions
As of June 2022, Australia's population was around 24 million.
The racial composition of Australia is diverse, with people of various ancestries and backgrounds. The country has pursued an official policy of multiculturalism since the end of the White Australia policy in 1973. While the Australian Bureau of Statistics does not collect data on race, various studies have estimated the European population at around 57.2% to 76% of the total population, with the non-European proportion ranging from 21% to 23%, and the Aboriginal Australian population at around 3%.
Aboriginal Australians are the indigenous people of Australia, with a history dating back thousands of years. They were the sole inhabitants of the land before British colonisation in 1788, and their population estimates range from 300,000 to one million before colonisation. Today, they make up a small fraction of the total population, with numbers increasing in recent decades.
According to the 2021 census, the top five ancestries in Australia are English (33%), Australian (29.9%), Irish (9.5%), Scottish (8.6%), and Chinese (5.5%).
According to the 2021 census, 38.9% of Australians identified as having "no religion", while 43.9% followed Christianity. The largest Christian denominations were Roman Catholicism (20%) and Anglicanism (9.8%). Other religions included Islam (3.2%) and Hinduism (2.7%).
