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LEARN MORE ABOUT .idIn 2021, 35.7% of people in Greater Melbourne were born overseas, compared with 27.7% in Australia.
Country of Birth data identifies where people were born and is indicative of the level of cultural diversity in Greater Melbourne. 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, Greater Melbourne'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 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Melbourne - Total persons (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Birthplace | Number | % | Australia % | Number | % | Australia % | 2016 to 2021 |
| Total overseas born | 1,755,635 | 35.7 | 27.7 | 1,515,595 | 33.8 | 26.3 | +240,040 |
| Australia | 2,947,136 | 59.9 | 66.9 | 2,684,072 | 59.8 | 66.7 | +263,064 |
| Not stated | 214,972 | 4.4 | 5.3 | 285,526 | 6.4 | 7.0 | -70,554 |
| Total Population | 4,917,743 | 100.0 | 100.0 | 4,485,193 | 100.0 | 100.0 | +432,550 |
| Birthplace - Ranked by size | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greater Melbourne - Overseas born (Usual residence) | 2021 | 2016 | Change | ||||
| Birthplace | Number | % | Australia % | Number | % | Australia % | 2016 to 2021 |
| India | 242,635 | 4.9 | 2.6 | 161,078 | 3.6 | 1.9 | +81,557 |
| China | 166,023 | 3.4 | 2.2 | 155,998 | 3.5 | 2.2 | +10,025 |
| United Kingdom | 161,913 | 3.3 | 4.4 | 162,954 | 3.6 | 4.6 | -1,041 |
| Vietnam | 90,552 | 1.8 | 1.0 | 79,054 | 1.8 | 0.9 | +11,498 |
| New Zealand | 82,939 | 1.7 | 2.1 | 78,906 | 1.8 | 2.2 | +4,033 |
| Sri Lanka | 65,152 | 1.3 | 0.5 | 54,030 | 1.2 | 0.5 | +11,122 |
| Philippines | 58,935 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 45,157 | 1.0 | 1.0 | +13,778 |
| Italy | 58,081 | 1.2 | 0.6 | 63,332 | 1.4 | 0.7 | -5,251 |
| Malaysia | 57,345 | 1.2 | 0.7 | 47,642 | 1.1 | 0.6 | +9,703 |
| Greece | 44,956 | 0.9 | 0.4 | 45,618 | 1.0 | 0.4 | -662 |
Show all (128 entries)
Dominant groups
Analysis of the country of birth of the population in Greater Melbourne in 2021 compared to Australia shows that there was a larger proportion of people born overseas.
Overall, 35.7% of the population was born overseas, compared with 27.7% for Australia.
The largest non-English speaking country of birth in Greater Melbourne was India, where 4.9% of the population, or 242,635 people, were born.
The major differences between the countries of birth of the population in Greater Melbourne and Australia were:
- A larger percentage of people born in India (4.9% compared to 2.6%)
- A larger percentage of people born in China (3.4% compared to 2.2%)
- A smaller percentage of people born in United Kingdom (3.3% compared to 4.4%)
Emerging groups
Between 2016 and 2021, the number of people born overseas increased by 240040 or 15.8%.
The largest changes in birthplace countries of the population in this area between 2016 and 2021 were for those born in:
- India (+81,557 persons)
- Philippines (+13,778 persons)
- Vietnam (+11,498 persons)
- Sri Lanka (+11,122 persons)
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