CANBERRA, July 27 (Xinhua) -- The number of people arriving in Australia as migrants has hit a record high, statistics have revealed on Friday.
New data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed that 539,000 international migrants arrived in Australia in financial year 2017, the highest-ever figure for a single year.
Of the 539,000 people, 315,000 arrived on temporary visas, including 150,000 international students, 50,000 on working holiday visas and 32,000 as workers on temporary skill visas.
The figure was offset by 276,000 people who left Australian shores in the same period, resulting in a net migration gain of 263,000 people, slightly lower than the record net overseas migration rate of 300,000 people in 2008-09.
According to the ABS, 377,000 people moved interstate within Australia, the highest figure in 13 years.
New South Wales (NSW), Australia's most populous state, had the largest net overseas migration rate with an additional 103,000 people but lost a net 15,200 people to other states, the largest loss of any state.
Victoria, the nation's fastest-growing state, had the largest gain in population from interstate migration followed by Queensland.
"In 2016-17, 86,700 people moved from another state or territory to Victoria and 68,500 people from Victoria moved interstate. This produced a net gain of 18,200 people, Victoria's highest ever figure," Myles Burleigh, Director of Migration Statistics at the ABS, said in a media release on Friday.