NZ third on list of migrants' choice

File photo / David White

New Zealand's adult population would balloon to more than 11 million if it were to take in all adults who wish to settle here, a global survey by Gallup shows.

Using what it calls the Potential Net Migration Index (PNMI), New Zealand registered third, behind only Singapore and Saudi Arabia, as immigration destinations.

The index is calculated on the number of adults wishing to leave a country permanently subtracted from the estimated number who wish to immigrate to the country, as a proportion of the total population.

A higher positive PNMI value means the larger the potential for net population gain proportional to the country's population size.

New Zealand posts the third-highest positive PNMI across 135 countries surveyed, with a net migration index value of 175 per cent, behind Singapore's 260 per cent and Saudi Arabia's 180 per cent. Canada registered fourth on 170 per cent and Australia had 145 per cent.

Massey University Professor Paul Spoonley, head of a major research project on immigrants, said the results were interesting but not surprising, given global sentiments.

"Economic migrants see countries like Singapore as a centre for opportunities, but lifestyle migrants will choose New Zealand for the quality of life, education and peace that it offers," Professor Spoonley said.

"New Zealanders [are] perceived overseas to be friendly and welcoming, and in the wake of a global terrorism threat, the fact that we rank highly on the peace scale makes it even more attractive to be living here."

New Zealand was ranked the world's most peaceful country in this year's Global Peace Index, which lists 140 countries in terms of a variety of factors reflecting domestic peacefulness and international relations.

At the bottom end of the Gallup scale, the Democratic Republic of Congo scored minus 60 per cent, meaning more than half of its people want to leave the country permanently than settle in it.

The poll interviewed about 260,000 people aged 15 and older in 135 countries.

The survey found that around 700 million people, or 16 per cent of the world's population, wanted to migrate permanently if they had the chance.

"This translates to more than the entire adult population of North and South America combined," the report said.

With 165 million saying they would like to move to America permanently if they could, the United States was the most desired destination overall in terms of absolute numbers.

Other destinations include Britain, Canada and France (around 45 million each), Spain (35 million) and Saudi Arabia (30 million).

Sub-Saharan Africa was the region with the highest percentage of people who would like to emigrate, at 38 per cent, and those living in Asia were the least likely to move, with only 10 per cent expressing a desire to emigrate.

Annual immigration to New Zealand is about 20,000, and the Department of Labour estimates that to be worth $1.9 billion a year to GDP and $1000 per capita to GDP.

A study released by the department this week says increasing immigration numbers will boost the economy, reduce production costs, increase goods and services competitiveness and benefit exporters, domestic investment and consumer spending.

WANTING TO MOVE

Countries with highest PNMI*
1.Singapore (+260 per cent)
2.Saudi Arabia (+180 per cent)
3.New Zealand (+175 per cent)
4.Canada (+170 per cent)
5.Australia (+145 per cent)

Top desired destinations
1.United States
2.Canada
3.Britain
4.France
5.Spain

Top sources for potential migrants by region
1.Sub-Saharan Africa
2.Middle East and North Africa
3.Europe
4.Americas
5.Asia

* PNMI is the estimated number of adults wishing to leave a country permanently subtracted from the estimated number who wish to immigrate to the country as a proportion of the total adult population.