Why migration to and from Australia is beginning to change
According to recent studies, more and more Aussies are moving to the state of Victoria from other parts of the nation, while migration from overseas continues to become stagnant.
The most recent data from the Bureau of Statistics reveals the net migration numbers of people coming from overseas in 2014 was 184,100, which is a decrease of 15 per cent from 2013. This resulted in only 473,500 new people relocating to the country, which is 5.3 per cent less than the previous year.
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With 2700 new residents coming directly from New South Wales, 2100 from South Australia and 1400 from Western Australia, Victoria had its highest interstate migration in over 40 years. In fact, the Northern Territory, Queensland and WA each had more people leave the state than arrive, although all had its population grow due to the number of births exceeding the number of deaths.
Australia’s overall population grew by 1.4 per cent to 23.6 million by the end of last year. Meanwhile, the economy is beginning to thrive again behind a lower Australian dollar which has resulted in a booming tourism sector.
Due to the currency depreciation, the number of Aussies leaving the country for vacation has dropped to only two per cent since 2013 after averaging 10 per cent from 2003 to 2013. On the other side of the spectrum, international travelers (Chinese in particular) have increased five per cent from 2005 to 2013.
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Net overseas arrivals—which is overseas arrivals minus overseas departures—is currently at its highest level since the Sydney Olympics of 2000. As a result, net tourism services exports are currently at its highest level since 2011, and makes up 0.25 per cent of total Australian Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
If the Aussie dollar continues to drop as many anticipate, the country’s economic benefits could become even greater.
However, another new development is for the first time in 24 years, more Australians have begun moving to New Zealand than the other way around.
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After New Zealanders relocated to Australia for years because of its prospering economy and higher wages, NZ only lost 1900 people to Australia between April 2014 and April 2015, which is the smallest amount since 1992.
A big reason for this has been a reversal in economic fortunes. With the Aussie economy dipping a bit due to its mining woes and lull in China’s demand for minerals, New Zealand’s has remained strong.
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