AUSTRALIA HAS ALWAYS BOASTED a solid immigration rate – to the point, where about 30% of our population has actually been born outside the country.
During the pandemic, immigration numbers fell dramatically. As a result, vital skills shortages emerged among building & construction, hospitality and rural workers.
Over the years, the best-performing countries (where Australia stands out) were generally resource-rich, new-world countries with strong population growth and good record with corporate governance.
Immigration also drives Gross Domestic Product growth
The Productivity Commission recently estimated immigration contributed almost 20% of the improvement in GDP per capita over the past 40 years.
Mistakenly, there are some who fear immigration will adversely affect employment levels – by taking jobs from existing workers. Instead, it’s been proven that immigration delivers broad-based improvements in productivity, across all levels of society.
Ultimately, these newcomers bring diversified skills to the workforce, which helps grow the total pie and everyone benefits – by driving productivity and innovation.
With our current skill shortages, immigration has an important role to play – initially, by plugging the glaring gaps in our workforce. But more importantly, by creating growth and improvements well.
Australia has long benefited from the cultural richness and diversity that immigration has given the nation, but we sometimes forget the economic benefits.
Bottom Line: There is no doubt immigration has introduced cultural richness and diversity into our society. However, we should also be aware of the economic benefits across every sector of the market – including Commercial property.
Best wishes …
