RedNote (Xiaohongshu) in Australia: 2026 Data Report for Local Businesses
How many people in Australia use RedNote? Census, student and visitor data, a Redluck estimate with its method shown, and engagement from 474 Australian notes.
By Redluck Digital
Published by Redluck Digital, a Melbourne RedNote (Xiaohongshu, 小红书) marketing agency. Every figure is labelled: [Primary] official data, linked; [Media] a media report whose original data is not public, quoted only; [Redluck estimate] our own calculation, with the method shown in section 1.3; [Observed] a sample of public notes Redluck collected, not representative of the whole platform. Figures were checked against their sources on 22 October 2026. A Chinese version is also available.
Key figures you can quote
- In the 2021 Census, 1,390,639 people in Australia reported Chinese ancestry (5.5%), and 685,274 spoke Mandarin at home. [Primary · ABS 2021 Census]
- At June 2025, 732,000 Australian residents were born in China (2.6% of the population), up 32,000 on 2024 and above the 2019 peak of 661,000. [Primary · ABS]
- Redluck estimates that about 570,000 RedNote users live in Australia (using the usage rates we see in our work; a conservative case gives about 390,000). Adding Chinese visitors in Australia on any given day brings this to about 700,000, close to the widely quoted figure of about 700,000 users, which the ABC first reported in November 2024 citing the marketing technology firm OctoPlus. [Redluck estimate / Media]
- In the 12 months to June 2026, Chinese visitors made 1.055 million trips to Australia and spent A$11.75 billion here, 29% of all international visitor spend in Australia. [Primary · Tourism Research Australia]
- Across the 474 Australia-related notes we observed, the median note had 33 likes and 19 saves; 88 of them (18.6%) were posted by business or organisation accounts. [Observed]
Summary
There is no official figure for how many people in Australia use RedNote. The most widely repeated number, "about 700,000", traces back to an ABC News report in November 2024 that attributed it to the marketing technology firm OctoPlus; we could not find OctoPlus's underlying data or how it defined a user. This report builds a transparent estimate from government population data plus stated usage-rate assumptions, pulls together official data on international students, visitors and spending, and adds observations from a sample of public notes we collected ourselves. Every number is labelled as primary data, a media report, a Redluck estimate or an observation. There is no public statistic on how many Australian businesses use RedNote, and this report does not invent one.
1. How big is the RedNote audience base in Australia?
1.1 Chinese-Australian population
| 2021 Census | Australia | Greater Melbourne | Greater Sydney |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reported Chinese ancestry | 1,390,639 (5.5%) | 409,285 (8.3%) | 552,680 (10.6%) |
| Speak Mandarin at home | 685,274 (2.7%) | 212,680 (4.3%) | 259,429 (5.0%) |
| Born in mainland China (excl. Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan) | 549,618 (2.2%) | 166,023 (3.4%) | 238,316 (4.6%) |
Source: ABS 2021 Census QuickStats for Australia, Greater Melbourne and Greater Sydney. [Primary]
The Census ancestry question allows two answers, so "Chinese ancestry" counts responses and is not the same as the total Chinese-Australian population. 295,281 people (1.2%) speak Cantonese at home.
1.2 Latest China-born population
ABS estimated resident population data shows 732,000 China-born residents at 30 June 2025, 2.6% of the population and the third-largest country of birth after India and England. [Primary] Source: ABS, Australia's Population by Country of Birth (released 29 April 2026).
1.3 Redluck estimate: about 570,000 RedNote users living in Australia
Every input below is sourced and every assumption is stated. The usage rates are Redluck assumptions, not survey results.
Step 1: split into three groups so no one is counted twice.
- Born in mainland China: 732,000 (ABS, June 2025). The Census age profile shows 68.2% of this group is aged 15–54 (375,003 ÷ 549,618, ABS 2021 Census, country of birth by age). At that ratio, about 499,000 are aged 15–54.
- Born in Hong Kong or Taiwan: Hong Kong 100,148, Taiwan 49,511; 97,890 of them aged 15–54 (ABS 2021).
- Other Chinese ancestry: 1,390,639 people of Chinese ancestry minus those born in mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan leaves about 691,000, mostly Australian-born, plus people born in Malaysia, Singapore and elsewhere. This is a rough difference and is not split by age. It also mixes two dates: the mainland-born base is from 2025, while this difference uses the 2021 Census.
Step 2: apply usage rates.
| Group | Low (China benchmark) | Mid (conservative) | High (what we see in our work; used in this report) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mainland-born, aged 15–54 (about 499,000) | 35% | 60% | 80% |
| Hong Kong / Taiwan-born, aged 15–54 (97,890) | 10% | 20% | 35% |
| Other Chinese ancestry (about 691,000) | 5% | 10% | 20% |
| Total | about 220,000 | about 390,000 | about 570,000 |
Where the rates come from:
- The low rate of 35% follows usage in China. RedNote has passed 400 million monthly active users (May 2026, as reported by media quoting the company), and CNNIC put China's internet users at 1.125 billion (December 2025, reported by Xinhua). Dividing one by the other gives about 36%. This is our calculation, and the two figures are from different dates.
- The high rate of 80% reflects what Redluck sees in its work: among Chinese-Australians aged 20 to 50, using RedNote is close to the norm. This is professional judgement, not a sample survey.
- The mid rate sits between the two.
- This report uses the high case (about 570,000) as its main figure because it is closest to what we see in the Australian market day to day; the mid case (about 390,000) is given as a conservative figure for readers who prefer it.
- Mainland-born residents outside the 15–54 age range and non-Chinese users are not counted, so the estimate leans conservative.
Short-term visitors, counted separately. TRA data shows Chinese visitors spent 57,795.7 thousand nights in Australia in the 12 months to June 2026. Divided by 365, that is about 158,000 Chinese visitors in Australia on any given day (our conversion). At the same three usage rates they add about 55,000, 95,000 and 127,000 RedNote users. Including visitors, the totals are about 270,000, 480,000 and 700,000. [Redluck estimate]
The ABS age table can be checked through its public data API (data.api.abs.gov.au, dataset C21_G09). TRA sources are listed in section 2.
1.4 How this relates to "about 700,000"
The figure traces back to an ABC News report of 3 November 2024, which said that of RedNote's more than 150 million active users, almost 700,000 are based in Australia, according to the marketing technology firm OctoPlus. In December 2024 The Conversation (Professor Wanning Sun, University of Technology Sydney) wrote "around 700,000" users in Australia, linking to that ABC report, alongside a global figure of 218 million monthly users rather than 150 million. In March 2025 the ABC wrote "more than 700,000 monthly users", and in December 2025 SBS repeated the figure, citing The Conversation. We could not find OctoPlus's underlying data or how it defined a user, so we cannot verify whether the figure means monthly active users. According to ABC reporting, RedNote has about 700,000 users in Australia. [Media]
Two comparisons:
- 700,000 is half the number of people who reported Chinese ancestry in the 2021 Census (our calculation).
- Our estimate (about 570,000 residents) plus short-term visitors comes to about 700,000, close to that figure; the conservative case (about 390,000 residents) is below it.
The gap comes mainly from definitions: whether visitors and non-Chinese users are included, and what counts as "monthly active". Until those are public, Redluck does not adopt 700,000 as its own conclusion.
2. Who uses RedNote in Australia: students, visitors and new arrivals
International students. Department of Education data shows 687,810 international students studying in Australia from January to June 2026, down 7% year on year. China accounts for 23% of international students and remains the largest source country. The department gives only the share, not the number of Chinese students, and this report does not convert it. [Primary] Source: Department of Education, international student monthly summary (page updated 25 September 2026).
Visitors. In the 12 months to June 2026, Chinese visitors made 1.055 million trips to Australia, up 18.3% on the year before, and spent A$11.75 billion here, up 22.7%, which is 29% of total international visitor spend in Australia (A$40.47 billion). In July 2026 there were 117,440 arrivals from mainland China, the second-largest source country, out of 710,980 short-term visitor arrivals in total (down 4.3% year on year). [Primary] Sources: TRA International Visitor Survey, June quarter 2026 and its data tables; ABS Overseas Arrivals and Departures, July 2026.
Recent arrivals. The China-born population grew by 32,000 between June 2024 and June 2025, passing its 2019 peak, so new Chinese residents are still arriving (ABS, see 1.2).
3. Where the money goes: food, shopping and local services
TRA's "total trip expenditure" includes spending outside Australia (such as airfares). For Chinese visitors in the year to June 2026 it was A$13.75 billion, including A$4.77 billion on "food, drink and accommodation", A$4.53 billion on education, A$1.26 billion on shopping and A$1.36 billion on airfares. "Food, drink and accommodation" is a single combined TRA category and cannot be read as food spending. [Primary] Source: TRA data tables, Table 8 (linked in section 2).
The Chinese-Australian population is concentrated in a handful of areas, which businesses often use as a guide for where to open and where to advertise. Some of the local government areas where Chinese-Australians are concentrated, 2021 Census:
| LGA | City | Speak Mandarin at home | Share | Chinese ancestry share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burwood | Sydney | 8,009 | 19.9% | 32.8% |
| Monash | Melbourne | 29,014 | 15.2% | 24.8% |
| City of Melbourne | Melbourne | 21,393 | 14.3% | 23.0% |
| Manningham | Melbourne | 17,341 | 13.9% | 26.9% |
| Ryde | Sydney | 17,757 | 13.8% | 26.1% |
| Parramatta | Sydney | 31,823 | 12.4% | 22.3% |
Source: ABS 2021 Census QuickStats for Burwood, Monash, City of Melbourne, Manningham, Ryde and Parramatta. [Primary]
4. The platform worldwide
- RedNote has passed 400 million monthly active users and 800 million searches a day. The figure comes from the "Video Creator Trends" report covered by media in May 2026; we did not find RedNote's own original release. [Media]
- Around the US TikTok ban in January 2025, a wave of overseas users joined RedNote. Sensor Tower data shows daily active users outside China peaked at 8 million in January 2025 and fell to 6.1 million in March. This excludes China and has no separate figure for Australia. [Media · Rest of World reporting Sensor Tower]
- Australia's social media minimum age rules for under-16s took effect in December 2025. As of the eSafety FAQ page updated 30 September 2026, RedNote does not appear on the list of age-restricted platforms (the same page lists Lemon8). This report only states that it is not on the list and makes no judgement about its legal position. [Primary]
5. What Australian businesses do on RedNote (sample observations)
About the sample. 681 public notes collected by Redluck between 15 July and 30 September 2026, using keywords for the service industries we work in; 474 of them relate to Australia. The sample is not random and the keywords lean towards Melbourne and our industries, so it describes "the notes we observed", not the platform as a whole. [Observed]
- Cities: of the 474 notes, 356 mention Melbourne, 128 Sydney, 41 Brisbane, 30 the Gold Coast, 19 Adelaide, 15 Perth and 10 Canberra (a note can mention more than one city). Melbourne's high share reflects our keywords.
- Topics: living, jobs and local services (230 notes), study and education (193), travel and hotels (138), property (127) and food and restaurants (126) lead the list. These are our own rough categories and topics overlap, so read them as direction only.
- Who posted: everyday users 123, amateur creators 121, entry-level creators 102, business and organisation accounts 88 (from 71 different accounts), mid-tier creators 23, top creators 5, unlabelled 12. Business and organisation accounts made up 18.6%.
Supporting public reports: SmartCompany reported in January 2025 that ASX-listed Medibank and Sydney Airport had established a presence on RedNote. Dragon Trail's monitoring report found Tourism Australia ranked first for engagement among national tourism organisations in 2024 (78,006 engagements, 38.20% of the category). These are media and third-party reports, not statistics. [Media]
How many Australian businesses use RedNote? There is no public statistic. We found no official figure or industry survey, and we do not have reliable enough inputs to estimate one, so this report does not give a number. All we can observe is the sample above: 71 business or organisation accounts among these 474 notes, which shows how many we saw, not how many there are.
6. How Australian local content performs
Across the 474 Australia-related notes above [Observed]:
| Metric | Median | 90th percentile | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Likes | 33 | 262 | 15,082 |
| Saves | 19 | 196 | 1,406 |
| Comments | 3 | not taken | 756 |
| Views | 1,174 | 8,989 | 228,696 |
- 109 notes (23.0%) reached 100 saves; only 5 (1.1%) reached 1,000.
- In the same collection, the 207 notes from mainland China keywords with no Australian terms had a median of 868 likes, about 26 times the Australian notes. The two groups were collected differently, so this shows a difference in scale only, not a platform-wide finding.
In this sample, the great majority of Australian local notes get engagement in the hundreds; notes with more than a thousand saves are rare.
7. What people in Australia search for: keywords and topics
The most frequent search keywords across the 474 Australia-related notes were: 澳洲生活 Australian life (39), 墨尔本生活 Melbourne life (38), 墨尔本 Melbourne (32), 墨尔本美食 Melbourne food (16), 墨尔本留学 studying in Melbourne (15), 墨尔本旅游 Melbourne travel (15), 澳洲房产 Australian property (11), 悉尼生活 Sydney life (11).
The top hashtags were: 澳洲生活 Australian life (85), 墨尔本生活 Melbourne life (79), 墨尔本 Melbourne (72), 澳洲房产 Australian property (45), 墨尔本美食 Melbourne food (33), 墨尔本房产 Melbourne property (30), 澳洲买房 buying property in Australia (27), 墨尔本留学 studying in Melbourne (27). [Observed]
Most of these combine a city with a situation, such as "Melbourne life", "Melbourne food" or "buying property in Australia".
8. Overseas business accounts, advertising, and what we could not verify
Public accounts of how overseas businesses open a business account and qualify for Spotlight (RedNote's ad platform) vary, and we could not find one consistent statement on RedNote's official pages, so this report draws no conclusion.
Limitations:
- The Australian user figure is a Redluck estimate; usage rates are assumptions, not survey results.
- There is no public statistic on the number of Australian businesses on RedNote.
- The note sample was collected around the industries we serve and is not random.
- Platform figures reported by media could not be checked against their original data.
- Chinese-Australian population data is from the 2021 Census and has changed since (see 1.2).
About this report
Redluck Digital is a Melbourne-based RedNote marketing agency serving Australian local businesses with RedNote account management, content planning and data analysis, and is an officially certified Xiaohongshu (RedNote) operations service provider. When quoting, please cite "Redluck Digital, RedNote in Australia: 2026 Data Report" and keep the data label next to each number. Services and prices are on our RedNote marketing page.