Long-term migration to Australia surging

Immigration figures released last week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealed that net long-term migration to Australia is still increasing, although net permanent migration has fallen.

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The figures show that there were 680,200 long-term and permanent arrivals in Australia in the year to August 2013 – a 12-month record – while there were 371,440 permanent and long term departures in the same period.

The net migrant increase of 308,760 net permanent and long term arrivals into Australia in the year to August 2013 represents a 55 per cent increase from the total arrivals recorded in the year to January 2011, while they were more than double the long run average.

However, these figures are being significantly boosted by temporary or long-term arrivals. The latest data shows that permanent arrivals fell by 4 per cent to 152,710 whereas permanent departures rose 5 per cent to their highest ever level of 92,790.

The majority of temporary migrants travelled to Australia from New Zealand, China, Japan, Malaysia, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Singapore, Indonesia, Hong Kong and South Korea.

The number of people who came to Australia from China rose by 14.1 per cent in the year to August, while the number of short-term visitors from Singapore went up by 9.7 per cent during this same period – the highest increases recorded by the ABS figures.

Article published 16th October 2013