Migrant intake has ‘already hit record 500k’

Michael Read and Tom McIlroy

Oct 24, 2023 – 6.16pm

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Australia’s annual migrant intake likely hit a record 500,000 people in September as international students and working holidaymakers returned en masse, challenging official forecasts that migration will fall sharply over the coming year.

Abul Rizvi, a former deputy secretary at the Immigration Department, estimates net overseas migration hit 470,000 in the 12 months to June and probably reached 500,000 in the 12 months to September. Net overseas migration is the difference between the number of people arriving and staying in Australia for longer than 12 months and the number of long-term and permanent departures.

Michael Read is the Financial Review's economics correspondent, reporting from the federal press gallery at Parliament House. He was previously an economist at the Reserve Bank of Australia and at UBS.

Tom McIlroy is the Financial Review’s Canberra bureau chief based in the press gallery at Parliament House. He was previously the AFR’s political correspondent.