Australians are quitting NSW for life in Western Australia and Queensland as the nation battles crises in the costs of living and housing.
The state saw 121,071 people leave in the 12 months to December 31, the highest number of any state, new Australian Bureau of Statistics data has revealed.
Less than 90,000 interstate arrivals were recorded moving in to take their place.
Victoria, Tasmania, the NT and ACT also recorded falls in net interstate migration, with Victoria seeing a drop of nearly 10,000 and the ACT 1228.
Three states had a net increase in interstate migration over the same time period.
Queensland had the largest change with 34,545 people moving to the sunshine state. South Australia gained 670 interstate people and WA recorded 10,593.
While Australians were leaving NSW, the state saw a massive influx of overseas migrants with a net increase of 134,602.
Victoria had a net increase of 120,460 overseas migrants, while Queensland recorded just over 58,000.
The numbers were released as the ABS handed down new data findings on interstate migration from the 2021 Census.
Those aged 18 to 40 made up more than half of all interstate movers, despite making up only one-third of the population.
