Asians growing fast in Australia--census

Agence France-Presse, Inquirer.net
Posted date: January 29, 2009

SYDNEY – Australia's Asian population is growing rapidly as more regional immigrants pour into a country once despised for its racially exclusive policies, official statistics showed Thursday.
China and India provided increasing numbers of immigrants, while traditional sources of new arrivals in the so-called "Lucky Country" – such as Britain and Italy – suffered a decline, a review of the latest census revealed.

The "Portrait of a Nation" provided by the Australia Bureau of Statistics after analysis of the 2006 tally shows that a quarter of the population was born overseas.

Between 1996 and 2006, the overseas-born population grew by 13 percent from 3.9 million to 4.4 million people "and featured a major increase in Asian immigration," the figures showed.

The former British penal colony, which has become a sought-after destination for its laid-back sun-and-surf lifestyle, was until 1973 ruled by a "White Australia" policy restricting immigration to Westerners.

"Country of birth groups which increased the most between 1996 and 2006 were New Zealand (by around 98,000 people), China (96,000) and India (70,000)," the census revealed.

"In contrast, European country-of-birth groups declined sharply over the same period – Italy by 39,000 people, the United Kingdom by 35,000 and Greece by 17,000."

However, while the ratio of Asian immigration to European arrivals changed – with six of the 10 most common birthplaces of migrants being Asian countries – 92,000 Britons still accounted for most new residents.

Apart from China and India, countries providing increasing numbers of immigrants included Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea and South Africa.