Here`s A Huge Potential Benefit To Australia`s Economy From Migrants That No-One Talks About

And from the note:

Under our baseline scenario we have assumed that net overseas migration will remain constant at 180k per year. If government policy lifted net overseas migration to an average of 250k per year, this would increase potential GDP growth by 0.2ppts per year, on average between 2013-2030 (compared to our baseline scenario). This would cumulatively be worth around AUD760bn by 2030 to the Australian economy.

In contrast, if net overseas migration slowed to an average of 100k per year, then potential growth would be lowered by 0.3ppts per year, on average (compared to our baseline scenario). This would cumulatively reduce the size of the Australian economy by around AUD900bn.

There are many factors that affect migration, only some of which can be controlled domestically. But with living standards here the second-highest in the world, decent infrastructure, and an extremely low unemployment rate, there’s a lot of built-in sustainable appeal for people if the country needs extra pairs of hands.

Then there’s this thought-provoking point about some of the hidden benefits of a smart immigration program:
A less talked about phenomenon … is the benefits that immigration may generate through the development and/or deepening of personal and business networks across countries. For example, data shows that most foreign investment inflows into Australia occurs from the US and UK, countries that Australia has historically shared common cultural values with.

Likewise, the majority of foreign investment inflows into China originate from countries with large ethnic Chinese populations. This likely reflects that ethnic Chinese are more comfortable with the Chinese business culture and already have existing business relationships which they can leverage.

Encouragingly, of Australian residents who were born overseas around 40% now originate from Asia, up from 25% a little over a decade ago. The same applies for the large number of international students studying in Australia, with Chinese, Indian and South Korea students accounting for 45% international student enrolments in Australia.

Aside from the benefits to the Australian education sector, it allows both international and local students to build better cultural understandings and relationships, preparing them to actively participate in a global economy.

Being a smart country with a smart immigration policy means getting this part right, too – figuring out the opportunity, having the right incentives and rules in place to get the best out of the migrant population that is an essential part of Australia’s economic mix.

By Paul Colgan

Sourced from Business Insider Australia