IMMIGRATION ISSUES IN EUROPE.

Many European countries are growing primarily because they have a net inflow of immigrants. Since immigrants are often young and usually have higher fertility rates than natives, they may also help to increase the rate of natural increase once they have settled in a country.

The average annual flow of immigrants in Europe more than doubled during the 1990s compared with the previous decade, reaching an average of about 800,000 people per year. Ignazio Visco, chief economist of the OECD, points out that this rate is similar to that experienced in the United States. When the population size is taken into account, however, the European Union receives about 5 immigrants per 1,000 inhabitants almost double the rate received by the United States.

The adverse effects of immigration on the host country?s labor market receive a lot of attention, but the host country also gets economic benefit from immigrants, such as an easing of the economic and fiscal pressures of declining and aging populations.

SOURCE: OECD In Washington. Extracted from a speech by Ignazio Visco, OECD chief economist. A pdf file of the entire speech is available by e-mailing <[e-mail]> and requesting ?Immigration, Development, and the Labour Market.?