Singapore- a top choice for migrants

Singapore is a top immigration hot spot, according to a global survey conducted by Gallup. If it were to take in all adults who wish to settle in the country, its adult population of 3.6 million would jump to 13 million, said the survey released this week.

Gallup arrived at this figure by using what it called the Potential Net Migration Index (PNMI). The index is the estimated number of adults who wish to leave a country permanently subtracted from the estimated number who wish to immigrate to the country, as a proportion of the total adult population. The higher a positive PNMI value, the greater the potential of net population gain, the proportional to the population size.

Singapore emerged tops with the highest PNMI value of 260 per cent, followed by Saudi Arabia (180 per cent), New Zealand (175 per cent), Canada (170 per cent) and Australia (145 per cent) *** photo

Singapore's ranking in the PNMI may not be entirely surprising given its relatively small population size and strong and stable economy, analysts said. According to the United Nations' 2009 Human Development Report, Singapore is already a popular immigration destination. It ranked No.10 in the world in terms of the share of immigrants as part of total population, at 35 per cent.

The UN report also showed that Singapore had a relatively low emigration rate of 6.3 per cent. "If most of those who say they want to come here are mostly economic migrants from other Asian countries, I won't be surprised because Singapore's economy is doing quite well relatively, " Dr Chua Beng Huat, a sociology professor at the National University of Singapore, told The Straits Times when asked to comment on the Gallup survey findings.

**By Lin ZhaoWei from The Straits Time on Thursday, November 5 2009.