New Zealand ranked third on a global Gallup survey on migrants’ favourite places in the world.
Using the Potential Net Migration Index (PNMI), Gallup’s survey placed New Zealand just behind Singapore and Saudi Arabia as a favourite immigration destination.
This index is calculated based on the number of adults wishing to leave a country permanently subtracted from the estimate of people who wish to immigrate to a new country, as a proportion of the total population.
Gallup surveyed 135 countries and New Zealand scored the third highest positive PNMI, with 175%. Singapore scored 260% and Saudi Arabia was right behind, with 180%.
Canada ranked just below New Zealand, in fourth place with 170%, followed by Australia, with 145%.
Developing countries predictably scored the lowest rankings, with the Democratic Republic of Congo (-60%), Sierra Leone (-55%), Zimbabwe (-%), Haiti (-50%), and El Salvador (-50%) occupying the bottom of the list.
700 million potential migrants worldwide
Gallup’s survey also found that about 16% of the world’s population – roughly 700 million people – would migrate permanently to another country, if given the chance.
According to Gallup, if all adults who desire to migrate to a new country actually moved today, the world could become terribly unbalanced, with some countries suffering tremendous losses in human capital and others becoming overwhelmed with the sudden population increase.
