A recent report showed that based on current inward migration rates of about 1,000 people per year, the Island’s population would reach 130,000 people by 2036. Currently, the population is just over 104,000.
The number of Islanders aged 65 or older is also expected to rise to almost one in four, according to the Disease Projections report.
Based on the current migration trends and growing ageing population, the Island could expect to treat more than 20,000 more patients for chronic and long-term medical problems such as kidney disease, heart disease and obesity.
Assistant Chief Minister Paul Routier, who has responsibility for population, said that said the Council of Ministers recognised that net migration needed to be at a lower level than it has been for two decades – but not too low.
‘If migration is too low we will not be able to support our ageing society, our businesses will not be able to find staff and, ultimately, we may risk our prosperity and standard of living,’ he said.
‘Our society is ageing, so our health service will need to recruit enough doctors and nurses to provide the required care and medical treatment. If
migration is too high the required development would fundamentally change our small island and our way of life.’
Senator Routier added that by Islanders living more healthily it could ‘prevent many of the conditions’ mentioned in the Disease Projections report.
He added that initiatives like the new Tobacco Strategy aimed to create a generation of non-smokers, while the Food and Nutrition Strategy was geared to reducing obesity levels.
One in two adults in Jersey is overweight or obese.
Last week Chief Minister Ian Gorst said proposals to introduce a time-limited work permit system for low-skilled immigrant workers in Jersey should be tabled within weeks. He also said a population policy would soon be lodged with the States.
No definitive immigration target number has yet been set. Previously, a net inward migration of 325 people per year was the target worked towards. Some departments still use this figure to set policy, including that for the new hospital.
