Australia’s population hits 27.9 million as newborn numbers dip

Australia’s population growth has slowed to its lowest non-pandemic rate in 15 years with net overseas migration dropping below 300,000 for the first time since the Albanese government came to power.

But the new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the government still faces a battle to reach its own budget forecasts amid accusations from the Coalition that the country is on an immigration “highway to hell”.

The bureau reported that through the March quarter of this year, the population grew by 130,887. It took the total population of Australia to 27.9 million.

March is traditionally the biggest quarter for population growth as migrants and students move into the country. Net overseas migration for the quarter was 101,005, a 6 per cent fall on the same period in 2025 and the smallest March result since the depths of Covid.

Through the year, net overseas migration eased to 292,100, the smallest number since mid-2022. The intake through 2025 was also revised down by the bureau to 299,000.

Overall population growth eased to 1.4 per cent or 392,100 over the past year. Excluding the pandemic, when the international border was shut, it is the lowest growth rate since 2011. It most recently peaked at 2.5 per cent in September 2023 when the population swelled by 662,000.

The May budget forecast net overseas migration to be at 294,000 to March. It suggests that, without a jump in arrivals through the June quarter, the government will hit its full financial year forecast of 295,000.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government was ahead of schedule on its budget forecasts to reduce net overseas migration.

“When we came to office NOM [net overseas migration] was surging and a lot of the key indicators in the housing sector were falling. We are turning that around, and the net overseas migration numbers show that that is the case,” he said.

But Liberal housing spokesman Andrew Bragg said the government was in denial about the pressures of migration on the nation’s property sector.

“So they are still on the highway to hell here in terms of their migration numbers being way too high and totally misaligned with housing supply,” he told News24.

“So they have cooked up a terrible storm, which has made housing harder, and frankly, everything harder in Australia.”

Australia’s natural population increase – births minus deaths – continues to ease. Over the past 12 months, there were 100,600 more births than deaths, a 4.6 per cent or almost 5000 drop on the previous year.

The population figures confirm the slowdown in net overseas migration is being driven by the states that traditionally absorb the largest number of new Australian residents.