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Migration to grow New Zealand labor force over next two decades

Xinhua, December 17, 2015 Adjust font size:

Immigration and people working longer before retiring are driving growth in New Zealand's labor force, the government statistics agency said Thursday.

"In the short term, high net migration and the age composition of our population are contributing to a growing labor force," Statistics New Zealand population statistics senior manager Vina Cullum said in a statement.

"Plus we are seeing more men and women aged 55 years and over staying in the labor force."

The labor force was projected to rise from 2.5 million people now to 2.7 million around 2023 and 2.9 million in the mid-2030s.

In the longer term, however, the labor force was likely to grow much slower, with a total 3.1 million people around 2050 and 3.2 million in the 2060s.

"In the long term, net migration is likely to be generally lower than the current high levels, and labor force participation rates may not keep increasing. Our increasingly older age structure will also slow labor force growth," Cullum said.

Those aged 65 years and over would comprise an increasing proportion of the labor force.

In 1991, just 1 percent of the labor force was in this age bracket, and it rose to 6 percent now and was projected to be 10 percent in the late 2020s. Enditem