How many Australians moved to Europe in 2025?

9,339 Australian citizens received a first residence permit in one of the 27 EU countries in 2025, according to Eurostat (data updated on 22 October 2026). That is 86 fewer than in 2024 (9,425), a change of −0.9%. The most went to Netherlands (1,832), France (1,190) and Germany (1,118). Another 860 received one in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland. Outside the EU and EFTA, in 2025, 725 Australian citizens became permanent residents of Canada (IRCC), and the UK granted Australian citizens 12,319 work, study and family visas (Home Office).

First residence permits in the EUAustralian citizens · 2025

27 EU countries · Australian citizens · 2025: 9,339 first residence permits

9,425in 2024

−0.9%change on 2024

860Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland (+5.8%)

8European countries with 500+ permits

By reason: education 2,713 (29.1%), work 2,665 (28.5%), family 2,121 (22.7%), other reasons 1,840 (19.7%).

Source: Eurostat, First permits by reason, length of validity and citizenship (migr_resfirst), data updated on 22 October 2026, downloaded on 28 October 2026 (definitions). First residence permits, persons. Re-use: Eurostat copyright notice (free re-use with acknowledgement, CC BY 4.0).

What this number is, and what it is not

It is the number of Australian citizens who received a residence permit in an EU country for the first time in 2025: a permit valid for at least 3 months, for family, education, work or other reasons. A permit also counts as "first" when the person had none for the same reason in the 6 months before.
It is not a count of moves: some people who receive a permit never move, or leave soon after, and someone who received permits in two countries is counted in both.
It leaves out Australians who also hold an EU passport (the statistics cover non-EU citizens only), stays shorter than 3 months and renewed permits.
It is not the number of Australians living in an EU country, which is much larger.

Ireland: PPS numbers by month

Ireland also publishes a monthly count by nationality: 949 PPS numbers allocated to Australian citizens from January to September 2026, 1,221 in 2025 (Department of Social Protection, data to September 2026). A PPS number is not a count of arrivals.

How many Australians moved to Ireland: PPS numbers month by month

Source: Department of Social Protection (Ireland), Annual Allocations: PPS Numbers (gov.ie, page updated on 21 October 2026): PPSN registrations by year, month and country and by year and country (CSV, downloaded on 30 October 2026), data to September 2026. Licence: CC BY 4.0 (data.gov.ie).

How many Australians moved to each EU country in 2025

First residence permits issued to Australian citizens, by EU country, from the most. Tap a column heading to sort. Countries with at least 500 permits in 2025 have their own page.

First residence permits issued to Australian citizens by EU country, 2025 and 2024, with reasons for 2025

Netherlands	1,832	1,880	−2.6%	287	490	248	807
France	1,190	1,234	−3.6%	227	406	265	292
Germany	1,118	1,164	−4.0%	304	176	602	36
Denmark	1,026	958	+7.1%	97	728	175	26
Spain	774	914	−15.3%	290	190	151	143
Sweden	703	681	+3.2%	153	302	214	34
Ireland	598^u	689	−13.2%	106^u	60^u	383^u	49^u
Italy	455	286	+59.1%	136	109	136	74
Poland	239	164	+45.7%	28	22	153	36
Finland	193	170	+13.5%	69	46	43	35
Austria	176	165	+6.7%	98	30	43	5
Belgium	158	184	−14.1%	32	50	65	11
Portugal	157^b	220	−28.6%	51	5	42^b	59
Greece	147	116	+26.7%	53	4	13	77
Czechia	111	95	+16.8%	39	39	20	13
Hungary	98	100	−2.0%	20	16	38	24
Cyprus	73	69	+5.8%	19	11	14	29
Lithuania	49	17	+188.2%	13	3	2	31
Malta	45	62	−27.4%	12	10	9	14
Romania	45	30	+50.0%	26	1	8	10
Croatia	39	87	−55.2%	20	0	6	13
Slovenia	28	17	+64.7%	10	5	9	4
Bulgaria	23	24	−4.2%	9	2	8	4
Slovakia	18	28	−35.7%	4	1	2	11
Estonia	16	24	−33.3%	6	3	7	0
Luxembourg	16	35	−54.3%	7	1	7	1
Latvia	12	12	0.0%	5	3	2	2
EU-27 total	9,339	9,425	−0.9%	2,121	2,713	2,665	1,840

b = Eurostat marks a break in the time series in 2025 for Portugal: the change from 2024 may partly reflect a change in how permits are counted. u = Eurostat marks the 2025 figures for Ireland as having low reliability.

Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland

First residence permits issued to Australian citizens by EFTA countries, 2025 and 2024
Country	2025	2024	Change	Family	Education	Work	Other
Switzerland	562	521	+7.9%	182	164	208	8
Norway	279	274	+1.8%	68	87	117	7
Iceland	15	11	+36.4%	7	6	2	0
Liechtenstein	4	7	−42.9%	4	0	0	0

Source: Eurostat, First permits by reason, length of validity and citizenship (migr_resfirst), data updated on 22 October 2026, downloaded on 28 October 2026 (definitions). First residence permits, persons. These four countries are not in the EU total. Re-use: Eurostat copyright notice (free re-use with acknowledgement, CC BY 4.0).

Australians moving to the EU, year by year (2019–2025)

First residence permits issued to Australian citizens in the 27 EU countries by year and reason
Year	All reasons	Family	Education	Work	Other	Valid 12+ months
2019	9,167	2,180	2,458	2,951	1,578	–
2020	4,994	1,685	833	1,608	868	–
2021	5,028	1,863	582	1,655	928	3,932
2022	8,064	2,308	1,985	2,221	1,550	5,151
2023	9,264	2,129	2,666	2,698	1,771	5,579
2024	9,425	2,083	2,651	2,759	1,932	5,612
2025	9,339	2,121	2,713	2,665	1,840	5,425

Source: Eurostat, First permits by reason, length of validity and citizenship (migr_resfirst), data updated on 22 October 2026, downloaded on 28 October 2026 (definitions). First residence permits, persons. EU-27 = the 27 current EU countries in every year. Eurostat revises past years when countries correct their data. Re-use: Eurostat copyright notice (free re-use with acknowledgement, CC BY 4.0).

Canada and United Kingdom

Canada and the UK publish different figures, so they are not added to the European total: Canada counts new permanent residents by citizenship; the UK counts work, study and family visas granted.

Canada725 new permanent residents in 2025
−27.9% on 2024 · IRCC United Kingdom12,319 work, study and family visas granted in 2025
−15.2% on 2024 · Home Office

Questions people ask

How many Australians moved to Europe in 2025?

9,339 Australian citizens received a first residence permit in an EU country in 2025 (Eurostat). That is 86 fewer than in 2024 (9,425), a change of −0.9%. Another 860 received one in Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway or Switzerland.

Which European country do most Australians move to?

In 2025 the EU countries that issued the most first permits to Australian citizens were Netherlands (1,832), France (1,190) and Germany (1,118).

How many Australians moved to the Netherlands in 2025?

1,832 Australian citizens received a first residence permit in the Netherlands in 2025. Details by reason and year.

How many Australians moved to France in 2025?

1,190 Australian citizens received a first residence permit in France in 2025. Details by reason and year.

How many Australians moved to Canada in 2025?

725 Australian citizens became permanent residents of Canada in 2025 (IRCC). Year by year.

How many Australians moved to the UK in 2025?

The UK granted 12,319 work, study and family visas to Australian citizens in 2025 (Home Office). By type and year.

How many Australians moved to Ireland in 2026?

Ireland allocated 949 PPS numbers to Australian citizens from January to September 2026 (Department of Social Protection); PPS numbers allocated are not the same as people who moved. Month by month.

Is this the number of Australians living in Europe?

No. These are new permits issued in 2025. Australians who have lived in Europe for years, renewed their permits or hold an EU passport are not counted.

Other nationalities

Who moved where: all nationalities · Visa refusal rates · Visa income calculator