Information from the latest census showed a net migration of 491 people and a natural decrease of 81, as deaths exceeded births, giving a total population increase of 0.6%.
Deputy Prow said the objective agreed by the States last October acknowledged a need for a net migration of 300 people each year to sustain the island’s workforce at its 2020 level and meet the needs of the economy.
‘This strategic population objective, now agreed by the Assembly, recognises that our community is getting older and there are increasing numbers of islanders not of working age,’ he said.
‘As such, the island’s businesses need to bring people in to keep our economy strong and this cannot be achieved by government alone.
‘The population and immigration policy review sets out, at a high level, the framework in which government will need to consider population in the coming years, not least to ensure appropriate planning can be taken in respect of housing, the provision of public services, investment in infrastructure and maintaining fiscal balance.
‘We therefore need to continue to use the census information to inform the work across those relevant committees as we implement the agreed population and immigration strategy.’
The 300 per year figure outlined in the review assumes that not all of these people will be of working age.
Data in the latest census showed a decline in the percentage of those moving to the island who were of working age in the last five years, from 89.2 to 82.4%.
This would be a fall from 267 to 246 people of working age in every300 new arrivals.
There was an increase however, from 7.3% to 10.6% over this five-year period, of those people below the age 15 who would be able to join the working population at a later date.
The census also showed a large increase in the number of people coming to Guernsey from the rest of world, rather than Europe.
This rose from 9% in 2017 to 25% by March 2022, almost as large as the proportion coming from UK and Ireland.
Home Affairs would not comment on these figures from the latest census, but Deputy Prow said in a statement in October: ‘We firmly believe that our flagship proposal to amend population and immigration policy, to open up off-island recruitment worldwide for roles that are currently restricted to a more limited cohort of nationals, will be a game-changer for local businesses competing in a global market for staff to meet our economic needs.’
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