Australia’s population has ticked over 28 million, according to estimates from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

The milestone was recorded on the official Australian Population Clock at 5:52am AEST on June 2.

While not an official headcount, the Population Clock is based on ABS projections that draw on census data, birth and death rates, and migration figures, including arrivals and departures.

The figure is based on estimates of one birth every 2 minutes and 16 seconds, one death every 3 minutes and 33 seconds, one person arriving to live in Australia every and 59 seconds, one Australian resident leaving to live overseas every 2 minutes and 35 seconds.

These assumptions point to an overall total population increase of one person every 1 minute and 15 seconds.

Reaching 28 million suggests Australia’s population has grown by almost 500,000 people over the past 12 months and by more than one million people since 2023.

While not an official headcount, the Population Clock is based on ABS projections that draw on census data, birth and death rates, and migration figures, including arrivals and departures.

Reaching 28 million suggests Australia’s population has grown by almost 500,000 people over the past 12 months and by more than one million people since 2023.

Australia’s population growth has accelerated significantly over the past quarter-century.

Since the Sydney Olympics in 2000, the nation’s population has increased by around nine million people, an expansion of almost 50 per cent.

Other ABS data show Australia’s overseas-born population has increased to 8.8 million, or 32 per cent of the total population, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ASBS).

The latest data, from June 30, 2025, shows people from India, England, China, and New Zealand were the largest groups of foreign-born people.

People born in India recorded the largest increase since 2015 and have become the largest group of foreign-born Australians for the first time.

Australia’s resident population is now 27.6 million people, comprising 18.8 million people born in Australia and 8.8 million people born overseas, the ABS said.

The data shows Australia’s overseas-born population increased by 258,000 people in 2024-25 and the proportion of overseas-born increased to 32.0 per cent, up from 31.5 per cent in 2024 and up from 29.3 per cent in 2021.

People born in India (971,020) were the largest group born overseas for the first time on record, after a continued increase over the last four years.

People born in England (970,950) made up the second largest group – the second year in a row that this population has had an annual increase, after more than ten years of decline.

The third largest group was those born in China (732,000), an increase of 32,000 from 2024, when the Chinese-born population had surpassed its previous peak of 661,000 in 2019.

People born in New Zealand (638,000) were the fourth largest population, increasing from 618,000 people in 2024.