Australia’s population grew 1.5% in 2025: ABS
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The news: Australia’s population grew by 1.5% to reach 27.8 million in the 12 months to December, according to fresh data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The context: The nation’s population increased by 412,500 over the 12 months to December 2025 compared to the prior corresponding period.
ABS head of demography Beidar Cho said the increase was supported by natural increase, which is the number of births minus deaths, and overseas migration. Natural increase contributed 111,500 people, with births and deaths up 3.6% and 0.1% respectively.
Cho added that net overseas migration contributed 301,000 people over the year.
Western Australia recorded an annual rise of 2.2%, remaining the fastest growing state, while Tasmania recorded the slowest growth with a modest 0.5% rise over the 12-month period.
Migration has become a political flashpoint, amid the rise in popularity of One Nation, with Pauline Hanson on Wednesday pushing for a multiracial but “monocultural society” rather than a multicultural society in a speech at the National Press Club. Hanson wants to slash migration, in part to reduce pressure on the housing market.
What they said: “Migration was surging when we came to office and it has now moderated substantially. It was already down 45% since its peak, and is lower again today,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.
“Today’s number came in at 301,000 through the year to December, down on the previous quarter. The facts clearly show that Net Overseas Migration is coming down under Labor and Treasury is forecasting it to go even lower in the coming years,” he added.
The Housing Industry Association (HIA), in a media release distributed following the ABS figures, said migration does contribute to housing demand through population growth and, indirectly, through stronger economic growth. But noted the relationship between housing demand and migration “is not linear”.
“The industry has always sought stable and reliable migration and has observed the opposite for the past six years,” HIA chief economist Tim Reardon said.
“The solution is not to deny that migration creates demand for housing. The solution ... is to ensure housing supply can respond to that demand.”
Opposition home affairs and immigration spokesman Jonathon Duniam said in a statement that the government had failed to bring Australia’s migration intake back to sustainable levels.
He said a net 301,000 figure remains “far too high — particularly at a time when Australians are struggling to find a home, rents remain under extreme pressure and public infrastructure and services are badly stretched”.
The sources: ABS, Treasurer media statement, Opposition immigration spokesman media statement, Housing Industry Association media release
