New Updated Stats 2024
- French WHMs have seen a 31% increase in 2024 versus 2019 levels
- 55% of all Irish In Australia are on a Working Holiday Visa. In comparison 27% are permanent residents and 12% are on visitor visas
- Ireland have led the post pandemic WHM recovery with 147% Increase on 2019 levels
- September 2024 saw more Working Holiday Makers (WHM) in the country that any time in the history of the program
- Brits, Irish and French currently make up 1/3 of all Working Holiday Makers
- The average length of stay for Working Holiday Makers is 9.4 months
Backpacker Statistics
- The working holiday program has existed since 1975
- The working holiday visa (417) costs AU$635.00
- For the year 2023-2024, there were a total of 234,556 working holiday maker visas granted
- This is the highest number of WHM visas granted since 2013-14, when 239,592 WHM visas were granted.
- A total of 135,000 Working Holiday Maker visa holders arrived in Australia in 2022
- A total of 224,431 Working Holiday Maker visas were granted in 2022-23
- From 1 July 2023, there will be 100 Work and Holiday visas allocated to Papua New Guinea
- On 1 July 2022, the Work and Holiday visa arrangements with both Brazil and Mongolia commenced with 500 and 100 annual visa places available respectively
- Australia has agreed to extend access to the Work and Holiday (subclass 462) visa to up to 1,000 Indian citizens each year (expected by Dec 2024)
- Top five countries for first Working Holiday visa grants in 2022-23 were: 1) United Kingdom (30,766), 2) France (21,607), 3) Ireland (17,060), 4) Japan (12,407), and 5) South Korea (11,979)
- Top five countries for first Work and Holiday visa grants were: 1) Indonesia (5,385), 2) United States of America (4,367), 3) China (4,091), 4) Argentina (3,737), and 5) Chile (3,176)
- Average working holiday maker trip spend is $10,400 per year (2019 study)
- 43% working holiday makers visit 3-7 locations (2019 study)
- 19% of working holiday makers visit more than 8 locations (2019 study)
- $3.2billion spend by working holiday makers for the calendar year 2019
- $726 million spent in regional areas by backpackers
- $1.5billion contributed labour income to the Australian economy by working holiday makers
- 1 Australian job is created for every 10 working holiday maker visas granted
- 1 in 3 jobs held by working holiday makers are in Australian regions
- Media Enquiries: Contact Backpacker Job Board founder, Matthew Heyes, for comment.
Working Holiday Maker Visa Grants
The following table shows the number of working holiday maker visas granted by year:
| Year | 417 Visas | 462 Visas | Grand Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005-06 | 114,693 | 751 | 115,444 |
| 2006-07 | 134,993 | 1,812 | 136,805 |
| 2007-08 | 154,339 | 3,488 | 157,827 |
| 2008-09 | 187,907 | 6,409 | 194,316 |
| 2009-10 | 175,746 | 7,422 | 183,168 |
| 2010-11 | 185,480 | 7,442 | 192,922 |
| 2011-12 | 214,644 | 8,348 | 222,992 |
| 2012-13 | 249,231 | 9,017 | 258,248 |
| 2013-14 | 229,378 | 10,214 | 239,592 |
| 2014-15 | 214,830 | 11,982 | 226,812 |
| 2015-16 | 195,673 | 18,910 | 214,583 |
| 2016-17 | 191,955 | 19,056 | 211,011 |
| 2017-18 | 185,450 | 25,006 | 210,456 |
| 2018-19 | 180,223 | 28,813 | 209,036 |
| 2019-20 | 122,673 | 26,576 | 149,249 |
| 2020-21 | 31,207 | 8,379 | 39,586 |
| 2021-22 | 79,896 | 17,463 | 97,359 |
| 2022-23 | 178,306 | 46,125 | 224,431 |
| 2023-24 | 193,922 | 40,634 | 234,556 |
Job Opportunities for Backpackers
Vacancies for occupations that tend to employ working holiday makers
New working holiday countries
As of 30 June 2023, Australia is in bilateral talks with the following countries about implementing a working holiday program:
- Andorra
- Costa Rica
- Croatia
- Fiji
- Iceland
- India
- Latvia
- Lithuania
- Mexico
- Monaco
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Philippines
- 14 Solomon Islands
Sources
Source documents and websites: Home Affairs report, ABC News, Tourism Australia 2019 and 2021 snapshot, Charles Sturt University
