Over the past financial year, Australians continued to embrace overseas travel, with more than 16 million people holding a current Australian passport. That's more than 58 per cent of the populations carrying one of Australia's most trusted forms of identification.
Behind those passports is an enormous operation. During 2025-26, we issued more than 2.1 million passports, averaging more than 8,500 every business day. Australians also visited our website more than 5 million times to plan applications, check requirements and get travel-ready.
Sometimes travel plans can't wait. Last year, more than 340,000 people paid for priority processing to receive their passport in 2 or 5 business days, plus delivery time.
And one of our favourite facts from the year: if you combined the weight of every passport printed during 2025-26, they would weigh about the same as an adult blue whale.
Of course, travel doesn't always go smoothly. More than 4,200 Australian passports were reported lost or stolen overseas. We also issued 8,900 emergency travel documents, helping travellers continue their journey or return home.
Together, these numbers tell the story of a year in which millions of Australians explored the world, reunited with family and friends, travelled for work and study, and relied on their passport to get them there.
Want more passport facts? Explore more highlights from 2025-26 on our Passport facts page.
