Australian Citizenship statistics

More than 4 million people have become citizens since Australian citizenship was introduced in 1949.

Some 95 per cent of the population are Australian citizens.

Former nationality or citizenship

In 1949, during the inaugural year of the Nationality and Citizenship Act 1948, Australian citizenship was granted to 2 493 people from just over 35 different nationalities. The top 5 nationalities (and number of grants) at that time according to the Australian Yearbook 1953, ABS were:

• Italian (708)
• Polish (597)
• Greek (276)
• German (225)
• Yugoslav (80)

In 2007-08, 107 662 people were approved to become Australian citizens by conferral, descent or resumption.

A total of 121 221 people from more than 185 countries were conferred with Australian citizenship at ceremonies in 2007-08. (Note: this figure includes people who were approved for conferral in the previous program year but still had to attend a citizenship ceremony to officially become Australian citizens.)

The table below lists the top 10 previous citizenships of people who became Australian citizens by conferral at ceremonies during 2007-08.