The Council of Ministers report on ‘Inward Migration Incentives & Disincentives’ shows that “more is needed” to reach the Governments objectives.
The latest available data indicates that 3,705 people migrated into the Isle of Man between May 2021 and 2023.
However, taking into account outward migration of 2,709 and the fact there were fewer births than deaths in our resident population, the resulting increase in the population was 461.
The Isle of Man Government say that “more is needed achieve the objectives of creating and filling a further 5,000 new jobs as set out in the Economic Strategy”.
Labour Shortage
Recent labour market data also shows that there is an urgent need for more workers across many parts of the economy.
The unemployment rate in May 2024 was 0.6%, similar to the rate a year previously at 0.5%
This is set against over 1,000 vacancies being listed each month and 4.5 vacancies for every one jobseeker in 2023, with employers facing difficulties
finding staff widely reported.
Demand on Public Services
More people moving to the Isle of Man to work and live, as well as an ageing resident population is increasing demand on key public services too.
The report states that “public services are, on the whole, able to manage this demand where it can be forecasted and mitigated”.
However, the report revealed that some of the new demand has in practice been unexpected.
The Department of Education, Sports and Culture has seen “325 unexpected arrivals”, which it says are clustered in the East, since the 2022-23
school year.
More Migration Needed
Between the mid-1980s and the mid-2010s, the Isle of Man population continued a steady rise driven primarily by large increases in the Island’s working population migrating to the Island for employment in the growing financial services industry.
As these residents have aged, this is now beginning to be reflected in a growing proportion of the Island’s population being of retirement age.
As a result of the ageing population, the Island’s ‘replacement rate’, or rather the difference in the rates of births and deaths in a given year, has been negative for each year since 2014.
The Gov says that with net-zero migration, the Island’s total population would continue to decline over the coming years.
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