Latest news with #demographics
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Manitoba sees growth from interprovincial migration for 1st time since 2004
More people moved to Manitoba from other parts of Canada than left during the first quarter of 2025 — a feat the province hasn't accomplished in a quarter since 2004. New data from Statistics Canada says the province benefited from interprovincial migration during the first three months of the year, gaining 106 more people from other provinces and territories than it lost to other jurisdictions. During that period, 4,352 people moved to Manitoba from elsewhere in Canada, while 4,246 people moved away. However, Manitoba's total population rose at its lowest quarterly rate since 2020, as a result of federal policies to curb immigration levels. The province had an estimated population of nearly 1.51 million as of April 1, according to Statistics Canada. Manitoba historically loses more people to interprovincial migration than it gains, but the population still consistently grows on an annual basis, mainly through immigration from other countries. There was a net loss of between 3,500 to 7,000 people annually for the first half of the 2010s, but that number began to grow in later years, aside from a pandemic blip that curtailed travel around the world. It was more than two years ago, in 2022-23, when Manitoba saw a net loss of more than 9,000 people — the highest deficit in decades. In 2024-25, the province lost 2,481 people to interprovincial migration, according to demographic estimates from the Manitoba government. The NDP government took partial credit for Manitoba's interprovincial net gain from the first three months of 2025. Labour and Immigration Minister Malaya Marcelino said the government has been focused on attracting skilled workers and reducing trade barriers. Marcelino said in a news release that Manitoba is a "welcoming province," attracting people because "our economy is strong and there are opportunities to build a good life." Last year, Premier Wab Kinew suggested his government was open to the possibility of tax credits or incentivizing economic development to counteract the province's long-term interprovincial exodus. Kinew said the government can "move the needle" by growing the economy, creating more jobs, maintaining a low cost of living and extolling the province's draws, such as its arts scene. Lower immigration slows growth While Manitoba saw an increase in migrants from other Canadian jurisdictions in early 2025, the province's population increased by 0.2 per cent — its lowest quarterly rate since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic depressed population growth. Manitoba saw a net gain of 2,749 migrants from other countries, which is down from the increase of nearly 4,200 reported in the last quarter of 2024. The lower immigration numbers reflect the federal government's decision in 2024 to clamp down on arrivals from other countries. Canada's population rose by 20,107 people from Jan. 1 to April 1, the smallest increase since the third quarter of 2020 and an increase so small that it amounted to 0.0 per cent growth, Statistics Canada said. Immigration still accounted for all of the national population growth, as there were 5,628 more deaths than births in Canada.
CBC
11 hours ago
- Business
- CBC
Manitoba sees growth from interprovincial migration for 1st time since 2004
More people moved to Manitoba from other parts of Canada than left during the first quarter of 2025 — a feat the province hasn't accomplished in a quarter since 2004. New data from Statistics Canada says the province benefited from interprovincial migration during the first three months of the year, gaining 106 more people from other provinces and territories than it lost to other jurisdictions. During that period, 4,352 people moved to Manitoba from elsewhere in Canada, while 4,246 people moved away. However, Manitoba's total population rose at its lowest quarterly rate since 2020, as a result of federal policies to curb immigration levels. The province had an estimated population of nearly 1.51 million as of April 1, according to Statistics Canada. Manitoba historically loses more people to interprovincial migration than it gains, but the population still consistently grows on an annual basis, mainly through immigration from other countries. There was a net loss of between 3,500 to 7,000 people annually for the first half of the 2010s, but that number began to grow in later years, aside from a pandemic blip that curtailed travel around the world. It was more than two years ago, in 2022-23, when Manitoba saw a net loss of more than 9,000 people — the highest deficit in decades. In 2024-25, the province lost 2,481 people to interprovincial migration, according to demographic estimates from the Manitoba government. The NDP government took partial credit for Manitoba's interprovincial net gain from the first three months of 2025. Labour and Immigration Minister Malaya Marcelino said the government has been focused on attracting skilled workers and reducing trade barriers. Marcelino said in a news release that Manitoba is a "welcoming province," attracting people because "our economy is strong and there are opportunities to build a good life." Last year, Premier Wab Kinew suggested his government was open to the possibility of tax credits or incentivizing economic development to counteract the province's long-term interprovincial exodus. Kinew said the government can "move the needle" by growing the economy, creating more jobs, maintaining a low cost of living and extolling the province's draws, such as its arts scene. Lower immigration slows growth While Manitoba saw an increase in migrants from other Canadian jurisdictions in early 2025, the province's population increased by 0.2 per cent — its lowest quarterly rate since 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic depressed population growth. Manitoba saw a net gain of 2,749 migrants from other countries, which is down from the increase of nearly 4,200 reported in the last quarter of 2024. The lower immigration numbers reflect the federal government's decision in 2024 to clamp down on arrivals from other countries. Canada's population rose by 20,107 people from Jan. 1 to April 1, the smallest increase since the third quarter of 2020 and an increase so small that it amounted to 0.0 per cent growth, Statistics Canada said. Immigration still accounted for all of the national population growth, as there were 5,628 more deaths than births in Canada.
RNZ News
2 days ago
- Politics
- RNZ News
The traditional Census has been switched off: What happens now?
2023 will be the last year the government will ask every person in NZ to participate in the Census. Photo: RNZ For many decades, one night every five years, every person in this country was asked to pick up a pen and answer a series of questions about themselves and the house they lived in. What is your name? How old are you? What language did you first learn? Are you studying? Working? Do you have electricity, internet, a car? How many rooms are there at your house and who lives there with you? The Census - a survey that attempts to count every single person in a population - has offered fascinating insights into New Zealand's changing face over the years. It's charted the downfall of both religion and smoking, and the rise of new technology and ethnic diversity. It's revealed the shifting shape of our households and relationships. Even more importantly, though, these demographic insights have helped to shape everything from where new schools are built, to where electorate boundaries are drawn. But 2023 has turned out to be the last year that the government will ask every person in the country to participate in the Census. Instead, from 2030 Census-style statistics will be created from a combination of data already collected by other government agencies, known as 'administrative data', and annual surveys of a sample of the population. This approach was heavily signalled in consultation that happened last year . A failed 2018 Census, another one in 2023 that had its fair share of problems, and the huge cost of both those Censuses compared to previous years, all led to the government's decision this week. Announcing the change, statistics minister Shane Reti said: "Despite the unsustainable and escalating costs, successive censuses have been beset with issues or failed to meet expectations." It will end more than 150 years of continuous data collection across nearly the entire population . Demographers who spoke to RNZ fear that once it's happened, the change might be irreversible. They warn it may magnify rather than solve the problem of under-counting Māori and Pasifika populations, and that important data currently only captured by the Census will be lost. Both risks could have flow-on effects for all kinds of spending and infrastructure decisions that affect our daily lives. Photo: RNZ Len Cook was New Zealand's chief statistician from 1992 to 2000 and has also served as national statistician in the UK. He says the change has come just when an accurate picture of New Zealand's population is crucial. "We're in the middle of what I call a population storm, where falling fertility, rising life expectancy, and huge migration volatility means that pretty much every one of our 67 local authorities now is changing in an entirely different way from the other," he says. "We really need to be able to make sure that we're going to know in each of these places what's changing and what's driving it." Yet Wednesday's announcement did not make it clear what data might fall by the wayside, he says. "What's the information we now need but we're no longer going to get? What's the information that we're going to get that's new? And if we don't know what we're no longer going to have, what are we going to do alternatively?" Cook has kept a close eye on what's happening in the UK, which had planned to move to a similar system for its next Census in England and Wales in 2031. The day before Reti announced an end to New Zealand's five-yearly Census, the UK Statistics Authority recommended to the government there that the planned move should not go ahead, and instead a traditional Census should be held. The UK is a "trailblazer" in the statistical world, Cook says. "If the UK is not prepared to make this move in six years' time, then we need to have a damn sight better explanation of why New Zealand is going to do it now." Moving to an administrative model would take New Zealand further away from the systems used in many countries we compare ourselves to, he says. Australia, the UK and the USA all currently use a full population-wide census. Professor Paul Spoonley Photo: RNZ / Cole Eastham-Farrelly Massey University sociologist Professor Paul Spoonley says he is "very nervous" about the changes. "The Census is an all-encompassing data collection exercise which makes sure that everybody is part of that exercise and is asked the same questions. Administrative data doesn't do that, so there are big data gaps." Spoonley says there are other countries that have moved to an administrative model, but they also use a population register to keep track of data. "If you take somewhere like Sweden, everybody has a unique identifier and it can be linked with administrative data. But you then need to link that data very carefully, and you need to make sure that it's up-to-date, because there are always gaps in administrative datasets." Stats NZ acting chief statistician Mary Craig said at the announcement that there would be a lot of work over the next five years to ensure the administrative data it will rely on is up to scratch. "There's a level of data from everybody, but does it actually have all the attributes that we would need for this type of exercise? No." Spoonley says even if New Zealand's collection of administrative data can be made more systematic, it still won't include all of the information the Census currently collects. There are plenty of things only the Census asks about, particularly around dwelling conditions and household make-up, and te ao Māori data variables like iwi affiliation and te reo proficiency. "What are the surveys going to look like that make up for the data deficiencies - are they going to be adequate? And we need a big sample to make sure we are capturing all of those communities in sufficient depth." He agrees that the 2018 and 2023 censuses were costly, and also cost the country dearly in robust statistics. But the government should have considered previous models for running the Census before it decided to scrap it entirely, he says. "We've had 35 censuses in New Zealand. It provides an enormous and rich database. "We're breaking that continuity with no guarantee that we're going to get good quality data that tells us what's happening in New Zealand." If the new approach also goes awry, he says, "We've got no comeback." "We're a modern society that relies on good quality data to make good quality decisions at a national and local level. The risk is that we're not going to have that data to make those decisions, and the problem is that that will become apparent at a moment that's too late to rectify it." Photo: RNZ Te Kāhui Raraunga and Data Iwi Leaders Group lead data technician Kirikowhai Mikaere says her organisation was involved in some of the consultation behind the changes, but she still has many concerns about how it will go ahead. Te Kāhui Raraunga was set up in the wake of the 2018 Census, which severely undercounted Māori populations, and was given kaitiakitanga of Māori data from the 2023 Census. "Administrative data, we know, doesn't necessarily have the robust coverage for some key variables for iwi Māori - in particular for the iwi affiliation variable, the Māori descent variable, and te reo Māori," Mikaere says. "One of the concerns of moving to a system that relies on the combination of administrative data and smaller annual surveys, is that it might roll back the progress we've made and negatively impact the quality of Māori data." Rural and remote communities, and those with vulnerable populations, find it harder to access government services. The new approach could compound that problem, Mikaere says. "Administrative data is primarily collected from the delivery of services. If you don't access those services, then you're not seen in administrative data." Te Kāhui Raraunga worked closely with Stats NZ during the 2023 Census and was hoping to meet the agency and minister at the end of this month to discuss some of its solutions to those concerns, Mikaere says. "We support the modernisation of data collection in Aotearoa but it's really essential that the Crown works in genuine partnership with iwi to make sure that the new approach doesn't repeat historical data collection failings for Māori. "How do we make sure that all of our communities are seen in this alternative system?"
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Germans Must Work Longer, Bundesbank Says in Swipe at Government
The Bundesbank criticized the government's pension plans and doubled down on its proposal that Germans should work longer the longer they live. 'Demographic trends are putting considerable pressure on the German labor market and public finances – longer working lives would counteract this,' the central bank said Tuesday in its monthly report.
Hospitality Net
13-06-2025
- Hospitality Net
Swiss Tourism's Long Decline: Can the Alpine Giant Regain Its Global Standing?
Compared to other countries, Switzerland has steadily become less and less popular as a vacation destination, which raises important questions about the factors shaping international tourism flows. This article examines the role of demographic change, particularly ageing populations, in influencing destination rankings and looks at what these trends may imply for the future of Swiss tourism. Switzerland's Tourism: A 70-Year Decline in Global Popularity International travel has steadily increased over the decades. In 1950, there were 25 million international trips, rising to 1.4 billion by 2018 on the eve of the COVID-19 pandemic. This growth has made tourism a significant part of the economy. In Switzerland, for example, travel and tourism accounted for 12.5% of jobs and 9.2% of GDP in 2019. However, trends have been shifting away from Europe, and Switzerland in particular. In 1950, Switzerland was the 5th most-visited country by international travelers; in 1990, it was the 13th most-visited country in the world; by 2018, Switzerland had fallen to the 35th position (UNWTO Barometer). Where tourists choose to spend their holiday has a major impact on national economies. Countries in the Americas and Europe have for instance been losing ground. As figure 1 shows, fewer people are directing their international trips towards the Americas and Europe, while increasingly numbers are setting their sights on Asia and the Pacific. Figure 1. Share of worldwide international travel (arrivals)— Source: EHL The Role of Demographics in the Past Destination choices depend on many factors. Income plays an obvious role, as transportation and accommodation costs can be sizable, especially in certain countries. Scholars have been looking for key decision factors for decades and have consistently found that the cost of living in the destination country and exchange rates were two other important economic factors, perhaps without much surprise. The role of historical and natural sites, of temperature, sunshine as well as snowfalls at destination has also been established. Lastly, geographical, cultural and historical proximity, domestic or international conflicts, migration and political stability undoubtedly play an important role. Travel decisions also depend on non-economic characteristics of the person traveling. For instance, there is evidence that people go abroad less often as they get older. Health typically deteriorates with age - an important aspect to take into consideration before embarking on long-distance trips! One related factor which hasn't been investigated much is the ageing population. For instance, one adult out of five was older than 65 in Japan in 2000. In 2020, it was one adult out of three. As populations age, does that mean that there would be less international travel if all other factors were held constant? The answer is no. The analysis of data shows that it is quite the opposite. The ageing phenomenon is driven mostly by the increases in life expectancy, and to a smaller extent, by the drop in fertility. Living longer is, to a large extent, a by-product of medical progress that allows us to live in better health for longer. There might be an increase of the elderly in society, but this is due to better medical knowledge, meaning that people live longer and in better health, thus enabling more people to travel abroad. The Role of Demographics in the Future The United Nations has made projections on future fertility, mortality and migration rates, which allow researchers to estimate the expected number of old people in society. The OECD also makes projections of future economic growth. Based on these projections and the past effect of the ageing population on international travel, one can make projections of future travel between any pair of countries, ignoring all other factors that influence travel decisions. One can thus simulate future worldwide rankings simply based on changing demographics and income. The following table compares the projections for Sweden and Switzerland, two European countries of similar ranking in 2025: — Source: EHL Simulations predict a different path for the two countries. On average, international arrivals in Sweden would grow by 2.2% ever year, while they would grow by 3.2% in Switzerland. Switzerland could thus maintain its worldwide position and stop the decline that has taken place since 1950. The decline is slated to, on the other hand, continue in Sweden. Why is There Such a Difference? The primary reason for the difference in outcomes is that the two countries attract visitors from vastly different countries. For example, twice as many people in the U.S. traveled to Switzerland (about 1 million) compared to Sweden (about 0.5 million) in 2018 just before the COVID-19 crisis. In contrast, many more travelers from Denmark visited Sweden (2.3 million) compared to Switzerland (57,000). Yet, demographic trends suggest patterns will change: Denmark's population is expected to remain stable at around 6 million, while the U.S. population, driven by higher fertility rates, is projected to grow from 350 million to 400 million by 2070. This means that the market for international travel to Sweden is likely to grow at a slower rate than the market for international travel to Switzerland. Implications For National Tourism Management First of all, there are many factors and thus policy actions that can be taken to influence the attractiveness of a country to international travelers. What we learn from the simulation exercise is that demographic trends in themselves will also play a role. Relative to other European countries, these trends should help Switzerland maintain its standing, without any particular policy efforts. Secondly, tourism operators or policy makers who want to increase international arrivals into a country can also use demographic information to define their marketing targets. As there are more international departures from countries where people live longer (and thus are healthier on average), one could focus marketing resources on countries where life expectancy is higher and projected to increase faster, assuming that all other factors influencing travel decisions are the same. While Switzerland has seen its position as a tourist destination gradually slip since the middle of the 20th century, our simulation indicates that the downtrend is expected to level off in the coming years. Population growth in its key markets, notably in the United States, is likely to continue to bolster Swiss tourism in the near future. Shifting trends, including the ageing population and the increasing popularity of Asia-Pacific, are not predicted to cause a further decline for the Swiss tourism industry. Further Reading We invite you to access the full simulation here or download the PDF. For further details on worldwide travel, please consult the numerous publications from the UN World Tourism Organization. For further details on the role of demographics and simulations, please visit the 'Long-run Economic and Demographic Influences on International Tourism' project. View source
