Australia's population is nearing 28 million, but where are all those people living?

Australia’s population growth continues to motor along, nearing 28 million according to newly released data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

From 13.1 million in 1971, the population crossed 20 million in the mid-2000s, had hit 25 million in 2018 and is now likely only a couple of years from reaching the 30 million mark.

The national population grew by 1.4 per cent in cent in the 12 months to March 2026, according to the latest figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

That same rate of growth has been sustained annually for 50 years, outpacing most other developed nations.

As the political tectonic plates have shifted, the major parties have had population growth thrown in their face by opportunistic and disgruntled emerging political forces as the cause célèbre of all of Australia’s ills.

Everything from national identity to education and foreign students, and an overwhelmed health system, to security concerns and increased traffic have been pinned on migration’s contribution to this relatively rapid population growth.

But nowhere in the population debate has been so heated as on the topic of housing.

Almost three times as many people were added to Australia’s population through migration compared to natural increase.

Bjorn Jarvis, Head of Population Statistics at the ABS, said: “Our population was 27.9 million people at 31 March 2026, which is 392,700 more than the same time in 2025. 

“Natural increase, that is the number of people born minus those who died, added 100,600 people to the population. Births and deaths both up, 0.3 per cent and 3.1 per cent respectively. 

“We saw 292,100 people added to our population from net overseas migration from March 2025 to March 2026. This compares with 309,500 people in the previous 12 months.”

Even though it’s the lowest migration intake in four years, it still represents 800 new foreigners moving to the country every day and that has provided ammunition to the parties that believe Labor and Liberal are being too open to newcomers.

It has prompted the Federal Labor Government to try wrest back some of that gathering political momentum.

Lotteries and levers

Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke announced measures aimed at curbing temporary migration, as the Federal Government moves to reduce net overseas migration amid ongoing housing supply pressures.

The May Budget forecast net overseas migration would fall to 245,000 this financial year before dropping further to 225,000.

Those figures would be around half the record-high 548,800 recorded in the year to September 2023.

While permanent migration, including skilled migrants and family reunions, is capped at 185,000, there is no equivalent cap on the temporary cohort. This includes long-term international students and people on working holiday visas.

Mr Burke last month confirmed the Government would prioritise onshore applications for working holidaymaker visas.

On Thursday (18 September), he announced a new regional work requirement, which had been absent from the updated UK-Australia Free Trade Agreement that came into effect in 2024.

A lottery system will also be introduced for temporary migrants seeking second- and third-year working holiday visas, with the aim of increasing the available workforce for fruit picking and harvesting.

“Working holiday maker processing is now being restored,” Mr Burke said.

“The more tools and levers that are available, the more sharply I can target the system to be able to slow down to get housing in front and to minimise the impact on the Australian economy.

“We need immigration: we just need to make sure that it is targeted for the needs of Australia in numbers and across the different categories that work for our economy.”

Shadow housing minister Andrew Bragg said the temporary migration intake remained too high given the housing shortage.

Net overseas migration also remains well above the annual rate of about 170,000 new homes being completed, a figure that underpins a likely Coalition policy position on net overseas migration.

“Well, people aren’t stupid. They know that we have too many temporary migrants, and they know that we need more skilled migrants,” he told media.

“So part of this is recalibrating and getting more high-value people into the country. In the building and housing sector, we are desperately in need of tradies to help us build homes, because we can’t get enough apprentices through the Australian system.”

Interstate migration and housing

Oliver Hume Chief Economist Matt Bell believes interstate population movements could have a greater impact on property markets than the latest overseas migration figures.

“The latest population data has some really interesting implications for property markets,” he said.

“While the headlines will focus on the decline of annual overseas migration below forecast, it’s the interstate movements that tell us more.”

The contrasting performance of Queensland and Victoria’s property markets in recent years appears to be influencing where people choose to live.

For the first time since Covid, Victoria recorded a net annual inflow of interstate migrants. While the increase was tiny, at just 82 people, it came in the same quarter that Queensland’s quarterly interstate migration fell to its lowest level since 2015.

Mr Bell said the figures suggested Queensland’s once-significant affordability advantage was changing.

The vacant land price in South East Queensland has now been above that of Greater Melbourne for almost 18 months and is more than $100,000 higher. Cotality data also shows that it is only in recent years that Brisbane’s median dwelling value in established markets has overtaken Melbourne’s.

“Queenslanders may not be actively moving to Victoria, but it does seem likely that more Victorians are staying put due to Queensland no longer providing the affordable housing solutions it historically has,” Bell said.

Nationally, Australia’s annual population growth continues to ease from its post-Covid highs, but growth of 1.4 per cent remains well above the 0.6 per cent average across other advanced economies.

Overseas migration still accounts for 74 per cent of Australia’s annual population growth.

Bell said the figures reinforced the underlying demand for housing despite the current property market downturn.

“Even in the midst of a clear property market downturn, the fundamental drivers of demand remain strong,” he said.

“Population growth drives the need for new housing, namely apartments, townhouses and detached dwellings.

“Interest rates will eventually stabilise and then fall once inflation is under control, and Australia will still have a critical supply shortage in most markets across the country.”