Australia’s record-high levels of mass immigration have been blamed for a decline in per capita economic growth, and a nationwide collapse in living standards.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ National Accounts data for the September quarter of 2025 released Wednesday showed real GDP per capita declined by 0.01 after increasing by just 0.27% the previous quarter, meaning 10 out of the 13 quarters under Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have seen negative growth.
The overall economy grew by 0.4%, down from 0.6% in the June quarter, and higher than expected inflation figures indicate interest rates will be kept on hold by the Reserve Bank next week, with rate rises predicted for next year.
Productivity remained stagnant, having failed to recover since flatlining in 2022, and Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Public Affairs Kevin You said the ABS figures were “further evidence of how the federal government’s mass migration program is making Australians poorer”.
“The data is in, again: The Albanese government’s unplanned mass migration program continues to smash living standards across Australia, and the government has no plan for recovery,” Dr You said.
“As the federal government continues to rely on the lazy approach of mass migration to keep the aggregate economy afloat – rather than improving productivity – each Australian is being left with an ever-shrinking slice of the economic pie.”
In late November an IPA analysis of the Australian National Accounts: State Accounts dataset for the 2025 financial year found per capita growth declined in Western Australia (-1.1%), Victoria (-0.8%), NSW (-0.3%) and South Australia (-0.1%), while Canberra bucked the trend with growth of 2.1%.
IPA Director of Research Morgan Begg said five out of eight jurisdictions suffering falling living standards showed it was time to end a “long-running experiment with uncontrolled mass migration”, and cut red tape.
“It goes to show you everything wrong with our key economic settings that the home of the federal public service has grown for the same reason the rest of the country has not: as Canberra grows, the mountain of red tape is creates is smothering the private sector,” Mr Begg said.
“It is small wonder that the hardest hit state, Western Australia, has experienced sharp decline in mining sector growth in the face of federal government expansion of environmental laws and a continued commitment to anti-development net zero policies.
“This is why a majority of economic growth has been driven by mass migration, not improved productivity. This has left Australian families worse off, despite headline statistics indicating the economy is growing.”
Australia took more immigrants in the first nine months of 2025 than during any other year on record, with 1,530 arriving every day within that period, according to the latest ABS figures.
Recent polls show large proportions of Australians want migration levels cut, and rising anti-immigration sentiment has resulted in record-high poll numbers for One Nation.
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