About Sydney and NSW

Download Page as PDF Printer Friendly Page

About Sydney and NSW > People, skills and education

Ethnic Diversity

Around one quarter of the New South Wales population – approximately 1.5 million people – were born overseas according to the last population census. This represents 35% of all overseas-born residents in Australia. The vibrant mix of cultures and languages positions New South Wales at the forefront of the Asia Pacific in the capacity to provide a large, diverse, well educated and multilingual workforce.

The United Kingdom was the largest contributor of overseas-born residents in New South Wales with a 17% share. Mainland China (7%), New Zealand (7%) and Vietnam (4%) accounted for the next largest shares.

Ethnic Diversity - country of birth of residents, 2006¹

Country of birth	NSW	Sydney ²	Australia	NSW as a % of Australia	Sydney as a % of Australia
Australia	4,521,154	2,486,709	14,072,937	32	18
United Kingdom	265,851	175,166	1,038,162	26	17
China (excl. SARs and Taiwan Province)	114,044	109,142	206,593	55	53
New Zealand	106,615	81,064	389,467	27	21
Vietnam	63,786	62,144	159,848	40	39
Philippines	57,723	52,087	120,534	48	43
India	57,154	52,975	147,111	39	36
Lebanon	55,778	54,502	74,848	75	73
Italy	55,177	44,563	199,124	28	22
Hong Kong (SAR of China)	38,345	36,866	71,801	53	51
Greece	35,051	32,022	109,989	32	29
Korea, Republic of (South)	33,225	32,124	52,761	63	61
South Africa	32,948	28,427	104,132	32	27
Germany	31,059	19,364	106,528	29	18
Fiji	28,607	26,928	48,147	59	56
Malaysia	23,395	21,211	92,332	25	23
Indonesia	21,883	20,562	50,981	43	40
United States of America	21,751	16,340	61,713	35	26
Iraq	20,532	20,216	32,518	63	62
Sri Lanka	19,087	17,917	62,257	31	29
Netherlands	18,818	10,648	78,931	24	13
Croatia	18,461	15,501	50,990	36	30
Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)	17,682	11,630	40,656	43	29
Ireland	17,271	14,063	50,259	34	28
Egypt	17,193	16,238	33,497	51	48
Malta	16,975	14,680	43,708	39	34
Born elsewhere overseas	367,436	321,035	989,149	37	32
Total born overseas	1,555,847	1,307,415	4,416,036	35	30
Not stated	472,177	325,064	1,366,315	35	24
Total	6,549,178	4,119,191	19,855,288	33	21

Footnotes:
1. Based on the Place of Usual Residence profile.
2. Sydney Statistical Division as defined by the Australian Standard Geographical Classification (ASGC), 2006.

Source: ABS, 2006 Census of Population and Housing.

Advanced Search