China could soon be providing the most migrants to Australia
The Poms still provide the most migrants to Australia, but new figures say if the current trend holds it will be the Chinese in the top spot soon.
NSW
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British people are still the nation’s leading migrant group, but China and India are not far behind, a new report shows.
Nearly a third of the population – or 7.5 million Australians – were born overseas, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Traditional migrant group the English comprised nearly four per cent of all residents, with 986,000 people as of June 30, 2019.
The number had dropped from just over a million between 2012 and 2016.
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While the English-born community shrinks, the number of Chinese migrants has continued to rise since 2002, with the community now standing at 677,000.
India was the next highest country of origin. There are now 660,000 Indians living in Australia.
The next biggest group was New Zealanders (570,000) and people from the Philippines (294,000).
People born in Sri Lanka represented the tenth largest group of overseas-born residents, accounting for 140,000 people, and replacing Scotland in the top 10.
Australia’s net migrant intake last year was 239,600, slightly above the 2017-18 figure. NSW continues to have the highest number of migrants (86,200), despite a 800-person decline in new arrivals over the previous year.
Temporary visa holders comprised nearly two-thirds of the nation’s net migrant intake last year, accounting for 346,000 arrivals.
Foreign students were the biggest group, with 173,000 visas.
There were 50,300 working holiday makers, and 31,800 people on temporary skilled visas.
Social demographer Mark McCrindle said Australia’s diversity and education system was popular with Chinese and Indian migrants.
“They are in our part of the world and they are two of the largest countries in the world. Australia is now on the map as a destination for education and so a lot of those people migrating are not just looking for an education but to have a future in Australia,” he said.
Civil engineer Rani Mate is one of the 660,000 Indian-born migrants in Australia and the mum-of-one said she and her husband have applied for permanent residency after four years in the country.
“Australia is a nice country and we love it here. The Indian community is big here, so people are really helpful,” she said. “My son Ram is four years old and he came here when he was nine months. He loves going to preschool and parks.”