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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn 2021, 14.5% of people in Regional Australia were born overseas, compared with 30.0% in Victoria.
Country of Birth data identifies where people were born and is indicative of the level of cultural diversity in Regional Australia. The mix of Country of Birth groups is also indicative of historical settlement patterns, as source countries for Australia's immigration program have varied significantly over time.
To get a more complete picture of cultural and ethnic characteristics, Regional Australia's Country of Birth data should be viewed together with Ancestry, Language Spoken at Home and Religion.
Please note: Due to changes in ABS rules around perturbation and additivity of data to protect the confidentiality of individuals, counts of individual birthplace groups and totals derived from them may differ slightly from those published by the ABS. For more information see notes on data confidentiality.
Q:
Derived from the Census question:
'In which country was the person born?'
| Birthplace - Summary | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regional Australia - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Birthplace | Number | % | Victoria % | Number | % | Victoria % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Total overseas born | 1,209,768 | 14.5 | 30.0 | 1,048,168 | 13.5 | 28.3 | +161,600 |
| Australia | 6,546,361 | 78.4 | 65.0 | 6,080,099 | 78.2 | 64.9 | +466,262 |
| Not stated | 588,920 | 7.1 | 5.0 | 646,991 | 8.3 | 6.8 | -58,071 |
| Total Population | 8,345,049 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 7,775,258 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +569,791 |
| Birthplace - Ranked by size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Regional Australia - Overseas born (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Birthplace | Number | % | Victoria % | Number | % | Victoria % | 2016 to 2021 |
| United Kingdom | 321,555 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 307,007 | 3.9 | 3.5 | +14,548 |
| New Zealand | 169,323 | 2.0 | 1.5 | 164,232 | 2.1 | 1.6 | +5,091 |
| India | 64,693 | 0.8 | 4.0 | 40,662 | 0.5 | 2.9 | +24,031 |
| Philippines | 60,261 | 0.7 | 1.1 | 46,334 | 0.6 | 0.9 | +13,927 |
| South Africa | 45,541 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 36,340 | 0.5 | 0.5 | +9,201 |
| Germany | 33,961 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 33,569 | 0.4 | 0.4 | +392 |
| China | 31,777 | 0.4 | 2.6 | 27,497 | 0.4 | 2.7 | +4,280 |
| United States of America | 26,141 | 0.3 | 0.4 | 21,599 | 0.3 | 0.3 | +4,542 |
| Netherlands | 25,973 | 0.3 | 0.3 | 26,991 | 0.3 | 0.3 | -1,018 |
| Italy | 24,783 | 0.3 | 1.0 | 25,938 | 0.3 | 1.2 | -1,155 |
Show all (127 entries)
Dominant groups
Analysis of the country of birth of the population in Regional Australia in 2021 compared to Victoria shows that there was a smaller proportion of people born overseas.
Overall, 14.5% of the population was born overseas, compared with 30.0% for Victoria.
The largest non-English speaking country of birth in Regional Australia was India, where 0.8% of the population, or 64,693 people, were born.
The major differences between the countries of birth of the population in Regional Australia and Victoria were:
- A smaller percentage of people born in India (0.8% compared to 4.0%)
- A smaller percentage of people born in China (0.4% compared to 2.6%)
- A smaller percentage of people born in Vietnam (0.2% compared to 1.4%)
Emerging groups
Between 2016 and 2021, the number of people born overseas increased by 161600 or 15.4%.
The largest changes in birthplace countries of the population in this area between 2016 and 2021 were for those born in:
- India (+24,031 persons)
- United Kingdom (+14,548 persons)
- Philippines (+13,927 persons)
- Nepal (+10,045 persons)
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