Fed: migrants continue to fuel Aust's population increase - ABS

AAP General News (Australia)
04-28-2004
Fed: migrants continue to fuel Aust's population increase - ABS

CANBERRA, April 28 AAP - Overseas-born people boosted Australia's population by 250,000
in the five years to June 30, 2002, Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures released
today showed.

By comparison, the number of people born in Australia increased by 868,000 in the same
period, the ABS said.

The percentage of people born overseas remained stable at 23 per cent of the population.

After the United Kingdom (1.1 million or six per cent of Australia's population in
2002), were New Zealand (414,000 or two per cent), Italy (235,000 or 1.2 per cent), Vietnam
(171,000 or 0.9 per cent) and China (165,000 or 0.8 per cent).

The ABS said New Zealanders (90,000 people), Chinese (33,000), South Africans (29,000)
and Indians (23,000) added the largest numbers of people to Australia's population in
the five-year period, after Australian-born.

People born in Iraq (nine per cent) and South Africa (eight per cent) were the fastest-growing
groups in Australia's population over the same period

But the Iraq-borns' rapid growth was partly as a result of starting from a small base
(19,100 in 1997).

People born in the UK continued to make up the largest percentage of overseas-born
people but this figure had declined marginally each year over the five year period, the
ABS said.

More than half of the annual growth of Australia's population for the period came from
net overseas migration.

The ABS said 11 per cent more settlers arrived in Australia from 2001-02 to 2002-03
while permanent departures also increased, by 10 per cent.

There was a continuing trend towards Australian-born people leaving permanently.

They had been about half of all permanent departures since 1998-99.

AAP dep/jg/cjh/bwl

KEYWORD: MIGRANTS

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