Australia's net migration rate up 27 pct in year

CANBERRA, Dec. 14 (Xinhua) -- Australia's net overseas migration (NOM) has soared 27 percent in a year, data released on Thursday revealed.

The statistics, released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), showed that Australia's two most populous states, New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria, recorded their highest-ever NOM rate in the 12 months ending in June 2017.

NOM is calculated by subtracting the number of people that moved out of a country from the number of people who moved in.

"Australia's net overseas migration for the year ending June 30, 2017 was 245,400, an increase of 27 percent from the previous 12 months," ABS Demography Director Beidar Cho said in a media release on Thursday.

"Net overseas migration in New South Wales and Victoria increased by 31 percent and 23 percent respectively. This growth has seen both states surpass their previous recorded high in 2008-09."

Australia's total population at the end of June was 24.6 million, up 388,100 from the same time in 2016, with Victoria having the highest growth rate of 2.3 percent, the ABS said,

If the population growth continues, it has been estimated that Melbourne will surpass Sydney as Australia's biggest city by the mid-2030s.

Australia's overall population growth rate of 1.6 percent is greater than any of its neighbors except Papua New Guinea (PNG).

Every Australian state and territory experienced an uptick in the NOM rate in the last 12 months, the ABS said.

New South Wales had the highest NOM with a net 98,600 gain followed by Victoria with 86,900 and Queensland with 31,100. Enditem