Think Tank: Mass immigration wrecking Australia’s productivity

Wednesday 29 March 2023

Macro Business has long argued that the mass immigration ‘Big Australia’ policy is a drain on the nation’s productivity.

Australia’s population has risen by more than six million people this century on the back of this extreme immigration. At the same time, business investment has collapsed:

This immigration boom, therefore, has reduced the stock of capital per worker resulting in “capital shallowing” and a decline in productivity:

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About the author

Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.