Immigrants have an undeniable long-term benefit for advanced
economies, according to a new report from the International
Monetary Fund (IMF).
Both high and low-skilled immigrants make a contribution over
time that results in boosting the GDP of the country they move to,
the study says.
The benefits are shared across the population of the host
country, although high-skilled migration tends to help increase the
income of the top 10 per cent of earners.
While immigrants can create problems in the short term centered
around integration and increased government spending, these are
outweighed by the longer-term advantages.
"While migration presents challenges for host countries, in
particular the risk of societal and political strains if migrants
do not integrate sufficiently or natives feel displaced, our
results suggest that there are long-term benefits to immigration in
terms of higher GDP per capita for recipient countries," the
report says.
