Population
At the end of June 2024, 46,790 Myanmese-born people were living in Australia. This was 54.4% more than the number (30,300) at 30 June 2014. This makes the Myanmese-born population the 39th largest migrant community in Australia, equivalent to:
- 0.5% of Australia's overseas-born population
- 0.2% of Australia's total population.
For Australia's Myanmese-born migrants:
- The median age of 41.3 years was 3.0 years above that of the general population.
- Females outnumbered males—50.4% compared with 49.6%.
(Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australia’s Population by Country of Birth)
Permanent migration
Australia's permanent Migration Program comprises economic and family migration and is the main pathway to permanent residence. The only other way to obtain permanent residence is on humanitarian grounds.
Find out more about
permanent migration.
This table shows the size of permanent migration (including humanitarian) from Myanmar by migration category.
Table 1: Permanent migrant places granted, 2021–22 to 2024–25
| Migration category |
2021–22 |
2022–23 |
2023–24 |
2024–25 |
Business Innovation and Investment 1
| 0 | >-5 | <5 | <5 |
Employer Sponsored | 36 | 53 | 32 | 72 |
Skilled Independent | 6 | 86 | 93 | 62 |
State/Territory Nominated | 46 | 52 | 60 | 70 |
Regional | 21 | 22 | 36 | 16 |
Global Talent (Independent) 2 | <5 | 6 | <5 | 0 |
National Innovation 3 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 0 |
Partner | 130 | 171 | 236 | 202 |
All other categories 4 | 30 | 20 | 30 | 23 |
Total places granted |
269 |
410 |
487 |
445 |
Humanitarian Program |
Offshore resettlement component 5 | 1,645 | 1,475 | 1,778 | 1,546 |
Onshore protection component 6 | 33 | 427 | 900 | 756 |
Source: Department of Home Affairs
1We closed the Business Innovation and Investment Program to new applications on 31 July 2024. Note: If we cancelled a Business Innovation and Investment visa granted in an earlier year, the place is returned to the program in the year of cancellation.
2We closed the Global Talent visa to new applications on 6 December 2024. We replaced this with the National Innovation visa.
3The National Innovation visa came into effect on 7 December 2024.
4Data has been perturbed to protect the privacy of individuals.
Note: To protect the privacy of individuals, we have applied various data confidentiality techniques. These include:
-
data masking — using primary and secondary suppression methods for values that we deemed to be a disclosure risk
-
perturbation — a data security technique that allows for random data adjustment to prevent the release of identifiable data.
5We extracted data from departmental systems on 7 July 2025. As information has been drawn from dynamic system environments the information provided may differ from previous or future reporting.
6We extracted data from departmental systems on 14 November 2025. As information has been drawn from dynamic system environments the information provided may differ from previous or future reporting.
Temporary migration
People can come to Australia for a temporary stay for a range of purposes that may include tourism, study and short-term work.
Find out more about
temporary migration.
This table shows the number of visa grants to migrants of Myanmar for Visitor, Student and Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visas.
Table 2: Temporary visas granted by selected categories, 2021–22 to 2024–25
| Temporary visa category |
2021–22 |
2022–23 |
2023–24 |
2024–25 |
Visitor | 1,297 | 1,786 | 710 | 778 |
Student | 904 | 1,057 | 515 | 274 |
Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) | 121 | 242 | 218 | 243 |
Other temporary visa grants 1 | 252 | 634 | 465 | 390 |
Total temporary visa grants |
2,574 |
3,719 |
1,908 |
1,685 |
Source: Department of Home Affairs
1Excludes Transit visa (subclass 771), Border visa (subclass 773) and Maritime Crew visa (subclass 988).
Main occupations
This table shows the main occupations for nationals of Myanmar, based on Skill stream migration outcomes and Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visa grants.
Table 3: Main occupations, 2021–22 to 2024–25
| Period |
Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visas |
No. of migrants |
Skill stream migration |
No. of migrants |
2024–25 | General practitioners and resident medical officers | 62 | Registered nurses | 24 |
Registered nurses | 14 | General practitioners and resident medical officers | 23 |
Accountants | 7 | Civil engineering professionals | 12 |
Civil engineering professionals | <5 | Software and applications programmers | 12 |
Industrial, mechanical and production engineers | <5 | Accountants | 7 |
Mechanical engineering draftspersons and technicians | <5 | Architects and landscape architects | 5 |
Chefs | <5 | Electrical engineers | 5 |
Other information and organisation professionals | <5 | Industrial, mechanical and production engineers | 5 |
Software and applications programmers | <5 | Other medical practitioners | 5 |
Motor mechanics | <5 | Other engineering professionals | <5 |
2023–24 | General practitioners and resident medical officers | 51 | Registered nurses | 55 |
Registered nurses | 14 | General practitioners and resident medical officers | 17 |
Chefs | 9 | Accountants | 8 |
Mechanical engineering draftspersons and technicians | <5 | Civil engineering professionals | 8 |
Metal fitters and machinists | <5 | Software and applications programmers | 7 |
Cooks | <5 | Other medical practitioners | 5 |
Cafe and restaurant managers | <5 | Industrial, mechanical and production engineers | <5 |
Hotel and motel managers | <5 | Electrical engineers | <5 |
Auditors, company secretaries and corporate treasurers | <5 | Other engineering professionals | <5 |
Marine transport professionals | <5 | Electronics trades workers | <5 |
2022–23 | General practitioners and resident medical officers | 55 | Registered nurses | 42 |
Registered nurses | 30 | General practitioners and resident medical officers | 26 |
Chefs | 11 | Other medical practitioners | 10 |
Software and applications programmers | 7 | Civil engineering professionals | 9 |
Auditors, company secretaries and corporate treasurers | <5 | Software and applications programmers | 7 |
Other information and organisation professionals | <5 | Accountants | 5 |
Civil engineering professionals | <5 | Electronics engineers | <5 |
Accountants | <5 | Early childhood (pre-primary school) teachers | <5 |
Management and organisation analysts | <5 | Auditors, company secretaries and corporate treasurers | <5 |
Industrial, mechanical and production engineers | <5 | Industrial, mechanical and production engineers | <5 |
2021–22 | General practitioners and resident medical officers | 30 | General practitioners and resident medical officers | 30 |
Registered nurses | 23 | Registered nurses | 8 |
Software and applications programmers | <5 | Civil engineering professionals | 6 |
Other personal service workers | <5 | Industrial, mechanical and production engineers | 5 |
Civil engineering professionals | <5 | Accountants | <5 |
Industrial, mechanical and production engineers | <5 | Other engineering professionals | <5 |
Specialist physicians | <5 | Life scientists | <5 |
ICT business and systems analysts | <5 | Medical laboratory scientists | <5 |
ICT managers | <5 | ICT business and systems analysts | <5 |
Accountants | <5 | Software and applications programmers | <5 |
Source: Department of Home Affairs
Note: To protect the privacy of individuals, we have applied various data confidentiality techniques. These include:
-
data masking — using primary and secondary suppression methods for values that we deemed to be a disclosure risk
-
perturbation — a data security technique that allows for random data adjustment to prevent the release of identifiable data.
Note: Occupation level information is available for primary applicants only. It is based on Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations at the unit level.
Geographic distribution
This table shows where migrants reside by state and territory, based on:
- 2021 Census
- permanent additions, for the:
- Skill and Family streams,
- offshore resettlement component of the Humanitarian Program.
- visa grants for:
- international students
- Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visa primary applicants.
Table 4: Geographic distribution by state and territory
| Population |
NSW |
Vic |
Qld |
SA |
WA |
Tas |
NT |
ACT |
Census 2021 (%) |
Of all persons | 32 | 26 | 20 | 7 | 10 | 2 | 1 | 2 |
Of Myanmese-born | 20 | 36 | 11 | 6 | 24 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
Permanent additions - 2024–25 (%) |
Humanitarian Program 1 | 10 | 53 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
Skill stream | 27 | 33 | 10 | 4 | 17 | 5 | 3 | 1 |
Family stream | 27 | 40 | 14 | 3 | 13 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Temporary visa grants - 2024–25 (%) |
International student visa grants | 39 | 32 | 11 | 7 | 9 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visa (primary) grants | 18 | 14 | 35 | 5 | 16 | 0 | 9 | 3 |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics and Department of Home Affairs
1Data pertains to offshore Humanitarian Settler Arrivals.
Note: Permanent additions consist of 2 components:
- people who, while already in Australia on a temporary basis, are granted permanent residence status
- people who have subsequently arrived from overseas during the reporting period and are entitled to stay permanently in Australia.
Country ranking
This table uses rankings to show the significance of migration from Myanmar for the past 4 financial years.
Table 5: Country ranking, 2021–22 to 2024–25
| Ranked position of migrants |
2021–22 |
2022–23 |
2023–24 |
2024–25 |
Population in Australia 1 | 40 | 39 | 40 | 40 |
Regional
| 41 | 50 | 44 | 51 |
Employer Sponsored | 57 | 53 | 58 | 47 |
Total Skill stream | 48 | 44 | 44 | 41 |
Total Family and Child stream | 50 | 41 | 35 | 37 |
International students | 37 | 43 | 50 | 59 |
Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visa | 49 | 45 | 46 | 49 |
Visitors | 58 | 75 | 93 | 92 |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics and Department of Home Affairs
1Population level data is by country of birth and lags one year behind the financial year specified. Data based on the estimated residential population at 30 June 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
