CANBERRA, June 18 (Xinhua) -- Australia's population growth rate fell to 1.5 percent in 2025 as the country's migrant intake dropped, according to official data released on Thursday.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) said that the national population increased by 412,500 people to 27.8 million in the 12 months to the end of December 2025, with natural increase adding 111,500 people and net overseas migration adding 301,000 people over the year.
Outside of the COVID-19 pandemic, when Australia's borders were closed for almost two years, the annual population growth rate of 1.51 percent to December 2025 was the lowest since December 2019.
According to the ABS, the population growth rate peaked at 2.53 percent in the 12 months to September 2023, but has been in decline ever since.
The net overseas migration figure of 301,000 for 2025 was down by 8.9 percent from 330,458 in 2024 and down by 43.2 percent from 530,620 in the 12 months to December 2023, reflecting the federal government's move to cut migration that included a cap on international student numbers.
Treasury forecasts released in January projected that net overseas migration would fall to 260,000 in the 12 months to the end of June 2026, with population growth expected to fall to 1.3 percent in the same period. Enditem
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