WHAT WAS CLAIMED
Two million Australians have died since the introduction of the COVID vaccine.
OUR VERDICT
False. The social media post misinterprets and distorts population data.
AAP FACTCHECK - Mass immigration is not being used to "hide" the deaths of two million Australians linked to COVID-19 vaccines, despite a claim on social media.
Official figures show 903,000 people have died from all causes since March 2020, and only 14 of those have been linked to the vaccines.
Deaths and immigration are recorded separately, making it impossible to use migration to hide deaths.
The claim appears in a Facebook post featuring a screenshot of another post alleging that a Japanese study had found vaccines "caused the death of one billion people".
"Do the math yourself - Google 'Australia population 2025' (28.1 million) Then subtract Australia population 2020 (25.6) Equals 2.5 million increase," the caption reads.
"Now ask yourself this.. immigration over 5 years.. over 3 million PLUS their births and births of citizens - we are about 2 million people down - that's 1 in 14 GONE. NO WONDER WE HAVE HIGH IMMIGRATION TO HIDE THE FIGURES!!"
Experts told AAP FactCheck the claim was inaccurate.
Elin Charles-Edwards, director of the Queensland Centre for Population Research, said the post's figures aren't consistent with population data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
The estimated resident population was 25,649,985 as of March 31, 2020, and 27,536,874 as of March 31, 2025, according to the ABS.
This is an increase of 1.88 million, not 2.5 million as the post claims.
This population growth comes from two sources: natural increase, or births minus deaths, and net overseas migration, or arrivals minus departures.
There were 1,491,500 births and 903,000 deaths between March 2020 and March 2025, ABS data shows, resulting in a natural increase of 588,500.
The Facebook post also claims that immigration has increased by "3 million plus" over five years.
While 5.46 million people arrived in Australia between March 2020 and March 2025, ABS data also shows that about 4.12 million people left.
The actual impact on the population from people arriving in and departing Australia is known as 'net overseas migration', Associate Professor Charles Edwards said.
Net overseas migration increased by 1.34 million between March 2020 and March 2025, according to ABS data.
When combined, net migration and natural increase equal a population gain of 1.93 million during that period.
This is slightly higher than the 1.88 million shown in the estimated resident population, as the ABS has rounded all births, deaths and migration figures.
"In short, there is no missing two million," Assoc Prof Charles-Edwards said.
Heather Booth, a professor emerita at Australian National University's School of Demography, agreed, also pointing to the ABS data.
The TGA has reported that 14 deaths have been linked to COVID vaccination, not two million.
AAP FactCheck has previously debunked multiple claims about the COVID-19 vaccines and deaths.
The post also features a screenshot of a post about a "Japanese study" that allegedly claims COVID vaccines have caused the deaths of one billion people.
AAP FactCheck found no record of any reputable study supporting this claim, and previously debunked a similar claim in November 2023.
UN data shows annual deaths from all causes from 2020 to 2023 ranged from 61.65 million to 69.73 million, with a notable increase in 2020 and 2021, followed by a decline.
The World Health Organization has attributed 14.9 million excess deaths to the pandemic during this period.
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