Australian population: ethnic origins

Australia’s ethnic make-up has changed sharply over recent years as a consequence of the new and diverse source countries feeding Australia’s migration program. New estimates of ‘ethnic strength’ for 1999 show that Australia’s people remain predominantly Anglo-Celtic in origin. However, the Anglo- Celtic share has fallen from 90 per cent in 1947 to 74.5 per cent in 1988, and to 70 per cent in 1999. Projections for the future indicate that if recent immigration trends are maintained the Anglo-Celtic share will fall to 62.2 per cent in 2025. Copyright. Monash University and the author/s