Australia & New Zealand Economics Update New Zealand: weak population growth holding back recovery The tighter labour market in Australia will continue to encourage large numbers of New Zealanders to move to Australia, holding back the recovery in the housing market and consumer spending. While... 25th November 2025 · 4 mins read
Japan Economics Update Takaichi unlikely to curb immigration much Concerns that new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi will drastically reduce immigration inflows seem overdone. But we suspect that the increase in immigration inflows over the past decade will come to a... 19th November 2025 · 3 mins read
US Commercial Property Update Senior housing returns to exceed 10% p.a. over 2026-30 Solid demand and a lack of new supply mean we expect senior housing vacancy rates to reach record lows in 2027 and stay at low levels in the following years, helping rent gains averages 4.5% p.a. over... 13th November 2025 · 3 mins read
Canada Economics Update New immigration targets may give the BoC further pause The government’s new immigration targets raise the risk that most forecasters, including the Bank of Canada, are overestimating the outlook for population growth. While that presents a downside risk... 10th November 2025 · 4 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Focus What’s driving Australia’s productivity slump? The main factors behind the ongoing weakness in productivity are the demise of the country’s mining sector, a dearth of business investment and a post-pandemic surge in net migration. The latter has... 5th November 2025 · 13 mins read
Europe Economics Update Spain’s immigration boom set to continue While other major European countries have taken some steps to limit immigration, Spain has liberalised its immigration rules further this year. So we think immigration to Spain will remain very high... 3rd November 2025 · 4 mins read
Canada Economics Weekly Population growth slowing to a crawl It seems likely that the Trump administration’s clamp down on legal immigration will boost the attractiveness of Canada for many migrants, but that won’t change the big picture that population growth... 26th September 2025 · 4 mins read
US Economics Update H-1B change highlights crackdown on legal immigration too The White House’s decision to impose a $100,000 application fee for H-1B visas confirms that the Trump administration is also determined to clamp down on legal immigration, which could further reduce... 22nd September 2025 · 6 mins read
China Economics Update Childbirth subsidies a small step toward rebalancing China has just confirmed an annual childcare allowance for parents with children below 3 years old. The sums involved are too small to have a near-term impact on the birth rate or consumption. But the... 8th July 2025 (Updated 28th July 2025) · 5 mins read
Asia Economics Update Demographic decline: what Taiwan can learn from Korea Taiwan and Korea face some of the world’s worst demographic headwinds with working-age populations set to shrink by 1% a year over the next decade. Efforts to boost fertility have largely failed, and... 7th July 2025 · 3 mins read
Global Economics Update Demographics adding to fiscal pressures As time marches on, the once distant threat of demographic pressures for many countries, especially those in Europe, is fast becoming a reality. This adds to the other pressures on the public finances... 20th June 2025 · 2 mins read
Australia & New Zealand Economics Weekly ANZ Weekly: Slowing migration may keep RBA in a dovish mood Australia's population growth has declined by nearly 1%-pt since its post-pandemic peak, driven in large part by a normalisation in international student arrivals. The drop in foreign student numbers... 20th June 2025 · 5 mins read
Japan Economics Weekly Consumers still spending, births falling Japanese households are doing better than had seemed to be the case, with data this week giving upbeat signals on both wages and consumer spending. They are not, however, having babies: fifty years... 6th June 2025 · 4 mins read
Asia Economics Update Vietnam: limited impact from scrapping two-child policy The abolition of Vietnam’s controversial two-child policy will not lead to a sharp rise in the number of children being born, and will have only a small economic impact. 5th June 2025 · 3 mins read
Asia Economics Update Can Korea afford post-election stimulus? President Lee’s pledge to provide fiscal stimulus would, if implemented, provide a much-needed lift to Korea’s economy. The country’s public finances could easily accommodate a temporary rise in... 5th June 2025 · 4 mins read
Asia Economics Update Korea’s poor demographics are not destiny just yet While Korea’s productivity growth has slowed, this has been offset by faster employment growth as more women and elderly have entered the labour market. If that trend continues and productivity growth... 24th March 2025 · 3 mins read
