By IANS,
Melbourne : The Indian population in Australia has doubled in six years, and India has become the biggest source of migrants to the country, latest statistics show.
In 2007-08, the number of immigrants from India grew more than any other country, the immigration department said. During this period, the number of India-born people living in Australia grew by a total of 39,529.
China was the second-biggest source, as the Chinese-born population grew by 32,563. New Zealand (31,248) dropped to third place, while Britain (17,397) was fourth.
The India-born population has risen from 110,563 in 2002 to 239,295 in 2008, to become Australia’s fourth-largest migrant community, it said.
Some of the Indians were skilled migrants arriving to take up jobs, and some arrived as students, many of them hoping to stay on as workers, the Age reported.
Even in 2008-09, the number of Indians in temporary residences in Australia grew by 40,000 or 40 percent.
For the seventh year in a row, India was the biggest source of permanent settlers in Victoria, with a net growth of 9,004 permanent residents from India.
India was followed by China with 8,034 permanent residents, 5,023 from Britain, 4,472 from New Zealand and 2,569 from Sri Lanka.
The British are still the biggest migrant community in Australia, with 1.166 million forming almost six percent of the population. New Zealanders (494,579) were the second-biggest group in mid-2008.
Other migrant communities include Italians, Greeks, Lebanese, Poles, Serbs, Dutch, Maltese, Croatians, Hungarians and Cypriots.