Australia Releases Immigration Numbers
August 17th, 2007 | Published in Immigration
Almost 150,000 people were granted permanent visas to live in Australia last year, according to the latest data from the Department of Immigration. 148,200 permanent visas were granted in 2006-07, including 97,920 for skilled migrants and 13,017 for refugees or people entering the country on humanitarian grounds.
Britain (24,800), India (15,865), China (14,688), South Africa (4,293) and Malaysia (3,838) were the leading sources of skilled workers.
The most common occupations for skilled migrants were accountancy, IT, nursing, mechanical and civil engineering, marketing and general management.
The average age was 31.
Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews said increasing demand for skilled workers coupled with high levels of retirement because of Australia’s ageing occupation were “major economic and social challenges”.
“The reality is we face a shortage of workers in Australia,” he said. “Australia is competing for skilled workers with Europe, the US, Canada and New Zealand. We simply have to ensure that we build a productive nation where business can continue to thrive into the future.”
Mr Andrews said Australia must attract “young, skilled, professionals who will contribute to a cohesive society,” to solve the issue.
He said 50,079 visas were granted to migrants in the family stream, including spouses, fiances or dependents, representing 33 per cent of the total migration program. Britain (6,540), China (6,037), India (3,634), the Philippines (3,098) and Vietnam (3,040) were leading source countries for migrants under the family stream.