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Austria in need of 50,000 immigrants per year: report

Xinhua, December 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

Austria is in need of 50,000 immigrants each year in order to keep the working-age population stable over the long-term, Krone newspaper reported on Thursday.

Based on a report using a demographics calculation model, demographics expert Heinz Fassmann and interior minister Wolfgang Sobotka claimed that without immigration Austria's population would shrink.

In order to avoid issues such as having the social security system falter, a yearly sum of about 50,000 people was necessary, Fassmann said.

He also spoke in favor of a structured, targeted, qualification-oriented immigration system.

Sobotka said the findings from the report would be used by his ministry and also that he would show them to the government. An immigration strategy should be launched in the first half of 2017, according to him.

In addition, Sobotka said he wanted to establish a migration commission, led by Fassmann, that would function as an advisory body, and not solely for the interior ministry. Endit