Population
At the end of June 2024, 172,800 people who were born in Sri Lanka were living in Australia. This is 50.2% more than the number (115,060) at 30 June 2014. This is the 10th largest migrant community in Australia, equivalent to:
- 2.0% of Australia's overseas-born population
- 0.6% of Australia's total population.
For Australia's Sri Lankan-born migrants:
- Their median age of 40.9 years was 2.5 years above that of the general population.
- Males outnumbered females—51.8% compared with 48.2%.
(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 from Sri Lanka 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 | 87 | 43 | 13 | 11 |
Employer Sponsored | 629 | 1,078 | 1,016 | 1,984 |
Skilled Independent | 25 | 616 | 806 | 501 |
State/Territory Nominated | 444 | 834 | 1,406 | 2,010 |
Regional | 699 | 1,068 | 1,357 | 3,611 |
Global Talent (Independent) 2 | 141 | 115 | 79 | 62 |
National Innovation 3 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 0 |
Partner | 661 | 554 | 841 | 1,080 |
All other categories | 115 | 174 | 154 | 185 |
Total places granted |
2,801 |
4,482 |
5,672 |
9,444 |
Source: Department of Home Affairs
1We closed the Business Innovation and Investment Program to new applications on 31 July 2024.
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.
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 from Sri Lanka, 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 | 13,054 | 29,216 | 28,947 | 29,191 |
Student | 5,528 | 13,334 | 9,360 | 9,942 |
Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) | 1,565 | 4,104 | 4,420 | 4,707 |
Other temporary visa grants 1 | 3,492 | 11,862 | 7,137 | 6,451 |
Total temporary visa grants |
23,639 |
58,516 |
49,864 |
50,291 |
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 Sri Lanka. It is 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 | Motor mechanics | 342 | Civil engineering professionals | 245 |
Chefs | 316 | Software and applications programmers | 237 |
General practitioners and resident medical officers | 298 | Construction managers | 201 |
Other medical practitioners | 86 | Accountants | 201 |
Cooks | 69 | Chefs | 128 |
Specialist physicians | 65 | Electrical engineers | 123 |
Accountants | 58 | Early childhood (pre-primary school) teachers | 118 |
Bakers and pastrycooks | 55 | Industrial, mechanical and production engineers | 112 |
Cafe and restaurant managers | 44 | ICT business and systems analysts | 105 |
Software and applications programmers | 36 | General practitioners and resident medical officers | 87 |
2023–24 | General practitioners and resident medical officers | 301 | Accountants | 249 |
Motor mechanics | 275 | Software and applications programmers | 149 |
Chefs | 196 | Chefs | 126 |
Other medical practitioners | 126 | Civil engineering professionals | 124 |
Specialist physicians | 68 | Registered nurses | 124 |
Bakers and pastrycooks | 52 | Early childhood (pre-primary school) teachers | 92 |
Accountants | 44 | ICT business and systems analysts | 70 |
Software and applications programmers | 40 | Electrical engineers | 67 |
Metal fitters and machinists | 39 | Industrial, mechanical and production engineers | 63 |
Cooks | 37 | Construction managers | 62 |
2022–23 | Motor mechanics | 332 | Accountants | 172 |
General practitioners and resident medical officers | 202 | Registered nurses | 140 |
Chefs | 176 | Software and applications programmers | 106 |
Software and applications programmers | 155 | Motor mechanics | 86 |
Other medical practitioners | 110 | Civil engineering professionals | 85 |
Cooks | 66 | Chefs | 84 |
Accountants | 64 | Early childhood (pre-primary school) teachers | 81 |
Auditors, company secretaries and corporate treasurers | 61 | ICT business and systems analysts | 53 |
Bakers and pastrycooks | 55 | Secondary school teachers | 51 |
Specialist physicians | 49 | Other medical practitioners | 51 |
2021–22 | Software and applications programmers | 105 | Accountants | 175 |
General practitioners and resident medical officers | 87 | Chefs | 70 |
Chefs | 85 | Software and applications programmers | 67 |
Motor mechanics | 61 | Civil engineering professionals | 54 |
Accountants | 56 | Registered nurses | 46 |
Other medical practitioners | 47 | Industrial, mechanical and production engineers | 39 |
Auditors, company secretaries and corporate treasurers | 39 | General practitioners and resident medical officers | 32 |
Cooks | 21 | Motor mechanics | 28 |
Bakers and pastrycooks | 19 | ICT business and systems analysts | 22 |
Psychiatrists | 18 | Other engineering professionals | 20 |
Source: Department of Home Affairs
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
- 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 Sri Lankan-born | 24 | 52 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Permanent additions - 2024–25 (%) |
Skill stream | 26 | 32 | 9 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 5 |
Family stream | 30 | 49 | 8 | 3 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
Temporary visa grants - 2024–25 (%) |
International student visa grants | 11 | 55 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1 |
Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visa (primary) grants | 23 | 36 | 22 | 4 | 10 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics and Department of Home Affairs
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 Sri Lanka 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 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 10 |
Regional | 6 | 8 | 6 | 2 |
Employer Sponsored | 10 | 8 | 8 | 5 |
Total Skill stream | 12 | 9 | 7 | 3 |
Total Family and Child stream | 18 | 16 | 11 | 10 |
International students | 11 | 12 | 11 | 10 |
Temporary Resident (Skilled Employment) visa | 7 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
Visitors | 20 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
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.
