In June 2025, the Australian Bureau of Statistics counted 10,240 people born in Mexico living in Australia. In February 2026 I arrived from Guadalajara to start my Master’s at RMIT, so add one more. This is a look at the community I joined: small, with more women than men, and unlike most other Latin Americans here, mostly arriving through the academic pathway.

1. Ten times bigger, but still small

In 1996 there were 1,030 Mexican-born people in Australia. By 2025 there were 10,240, about 10 times as many. That sounds like a lot until you switch to Growth since 1996: Colombia and Brazil grew more than twice as fast.

Estimated resident population by country of birth, 30 June 1996–2025 (2025 preliminary; rounded to nearest 10). Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2026).

2. More women than men, every single year

Each bubble is one community, sized by population. Since 1996, Mexican-born men have never outnumbered Mexican-born women in Australia. In 2025 there were 85 men for every 100 women. Peru is the only other country with the same pattern. Keep an eye on Chile too, which gets steadily older, and on Argentina, which suddenly gets younger after 2016.

Estimated resident population, median age and sex ratio by country of birth, 30 June 1996–2025. Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics (2026).

3. Four ways in, and one of them is close to us

So how are Latin Americans on temporary visas here right now? Many Argentinians, Chileans and Peruvians come as working holiday makers. Mexico has no Work and Holiday arrangement with Australia (Department of Home Affairs, 2025), so that option simply isn’t there for us. That helps explain why 52% of Mexicans here hold a student visa, the highest share of the eight countries in the chart.

Temporary visa holders in Australia by country of citizenship and visa category, 30 September 2026. Includes primary and secondary visa holders. “Work visa” combines skilled and other employment visas; “Other” includes crew, transit and other temporary visas. Source: Department of Home Affairs (2026).

4. The student boom faded everywhere except Mexico

When Australia reopened its border to students in December 2021, student numbers from Colombia and Brazil shot up, then dropped through 2024 and 2025. That drop overlapped with the July 2024 visa fee increase, from A$710 to A$1,600 (NB Migration Law, 2024). Mexico never had the spike, but it never had the drop either. Mexican student visa holders are at their highest number ever, while every other country in the chart is below its peak.

Student visa holders in Australia by country of citizenship, averaged over the latest four quarterly snapshots to remove the semester cycle; dot marks each country’s peak. Shaded: border closed to students (March 2020 to December 2021). Dotted line: student visa fee rise, 1 July 2024. Each panel has its own scale. Source: Department of Home Affairs (2026).

5. Where I fit in

This chart shows every Mexican on a temporary visa in Australia, quarter by quarter. I show up in it twice: in 2019, during my exchange semester in Melbourne, and again from 2026, when I came back for good. That makes me a bit unusual. From what I saw back then and what I see now, most Mexican students I meet in Melbourne are here on exchange or study abroad for just one semester, then go home.

Temporary visa holders who are Mexican citizens, quarterly snapshots, 31 December 2011 – 30 September 2026. Source: Department of Home Affairs (2026).

On 30 September 2026, 4,863 Mexicans held a temporary visa in Australia. Just over half of them (52%) were students, and 8% were graduates on the visa that comes after. We’re not the biggest Latin American community here, and we’re not the fastest growing either. Many of us only stay a semester. But while the student boom faded for the rest of the region, ours is still growing.

Notes on the data