'70,000 Indians migrated to Australia in last decade'

Australia has witnessed a massive influx of Asians in the last decade, with India and China together accounting for almost one-fifth of the new arrivals in the country during the period.

Between 1996 and 2006, India and China together accounted for over 1.5 lakh of the total jump in immigrants to this country.

According to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the number of Indians arriving in the country between 1996 and 2006 increased by 70,000, while the number of people from European countries fell over the same period.

The highest increase in the number of immigrants, however, was witnessed from China, ABS's report 'Portait of a Nation' based on the Australian census of 2006 said.

The number of Chinese people on the move to Australia between 1996 and 2006 increased by 96,000.

While the movement of Asians is on the rise, the number of Europeans crossing in to Australia has been found to be declining though Europe still continues to provide the highest number of foreign-born residents to Australia.

Though 24 per cent of the immigrants or 92,000 still arrived from the UK, the report said that 35,000 fewer people came from the country. The data also showed that 4.4 million people in Australia were born overseas.

Besides China and India, other Asian countries that saw an increase in the number of people moving to Australia are South Korea, Malaysia and the Philippines.

Asian-born immigrants now account for 27 per cent of the foreign-born population of Australia and 60 per cent of all immigrants now on the move to Australia are from Asian countries.