China ranks 2nd in origin countries for NYC'S foreign-born residents

NEW YORK, March 20 (Xinhua) -- China ranks second in the top ten countries of origin for foreign-born residents in New York City (NYC), according to a latest report.

NYC is home to 3.1 million immigrants, the largest number in the city's history, said a report titled "State of Our Immigrant City" released by the Mayor's Office of Immigrant Affairs (MOIA) on Monday.

The report, the first of its kind, provides a demographic overview of the Big Apple's immigrant population.

According to the report, the majority of immigrant New Yorkers are naturalized U.S. citizens, but the city is also home to a large lawful permanent resident population, as well as an estimated undocumented population of 560,000.

Approximately 1 million New Yorkers live in mixed-status households, where a household member is undocumented.

The top ten countries of origin for foreign-born city residents are: Dominican Republic (13.5 percent), China (10.2 percent), Mexico (5.8 percent), Jamaica (5.6 percent), Guyana (4.4 percent), Ecuador (4.1 percent), Haiti (2.8 percent), Trinidad & Tobago (2.7 percent), Bangladesh (2.6 percent) and India(2.4 percent).

The city has significant linguistic diversity, with more than 150 languages spoken. The top three languages of foreign-born New York City residents who speak a language other than English at home are: Spanish (40.9 percent), Chinese (5 percent) and Russian (7.2 percent).

Foreign-born New Yorkers contribute significantly to the City's economic health and vitality, said the report.

Immigrants own 52 percent of New York City's businesses, and in 2017, immigrants contributed an estimated 195 billion U.S. dollars to the City's Gross Domestic Product (GDP), or about 22 percent of the City's total GDP. Immigrant New Yorkers are employed across a range of industries, with a quarter of all foreign-born workers in the education, health, and human services fields. Enditem