“The unchecked, poorly regulated mass migration programme of the federal government has been driving locals from Sydney to flee as overseas settlers moved in at record numbers,” said Dr Kevin You, Senior Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs.
IPA analysis of net migration flow in the first three full financial years after the pandemic (2023 to 2025 inclusive), under the Albanese government, reveals:
- Overseas migration contributed to 108 per cent of Sydney’s population growth. The number is greater than 100 per cent because overseas arrivals exceeded the number of locals leaving Sydney.
- From the financial years 2023 to 2025, some 352,874 overseas migrants settled in Sydney on a net basis, while 113,088 locals left Sydney. And there was an additional 86,157 people added through ‘natural increase’, which is births minus deaths.
- The largest increase to net overseas migration in Sydney occurred in these three areas, which together absorbed some 41 per cent of all net migration to Sydney from 2023-2025:
- Parramatta (including areas such as Parramatta and Merrylands): Total addition of 49,643.
- Inner South-West (including areas such as Bankstown, Hurstville, Rockdale, Riverwood, and Panania): Total addition of 48,358.
- City and Inner South (including areas such as Newtown, Redfern, Darlinghurst, Sydney CBD, Marrickville): Total addition: 47,731.
“Sydney has been ground zero for the unprecedented post-pandemic mass migration, which has hammered the day-to-day living standards and lived experience of those living in Sydney and its immediate surroundings,” said Dr You.
“There must be a significant and immediate cut to immigration in order to restore the living standards of Australians – and to start to fix breakdowns in social cohesion and sectarian divisions and conflict.”
Table 1: Components of population change in NSW in the financial years ending 2023 to 2025
Table 2: Components of population change in the financial years ending 2023 to 2025
To download the IPA’s research, click here.
