Nearly 5000 children are stuck in institutional housing as Australia's adoption rates continue to plummet.

Total adoption numbers have fallen by 41 per cent, according to new data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare.

More than 260 children were adopted in 2020-21, but in 2024-25 that figure dropped to just 155.

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Overseas adoptions nearly halved in that period, falling from 37 to just 19.

The 19 children adopted from overseas came from just six countries: Thailand, Taiwan, India, Colombia, Hong Kong and South Korea.

Domestic adoptions accounted for almost 90 per cent of the adoptions finalised in 2024-25, and about 80 per cent of them were known child adoptions.

But even known child adoptions, wherein a child is adopted by someone they already have a relationship with, declined by about one-fifth from 147 to 119.

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