Canberra, Apr 17 (IANS): An Australian government study revealed on Tuesday that new migrant arrivals were benefiting the country's economy, not slowing it down.

According to the Treasury and Home Affairs study, migrants boost the economy by up to 1 per cent each year, increasing both Australia's overall Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and GDP per person.

It showed skilled migrants were actually adding to Australia's wealth and were in general not living on welfare or robbing local workers of jobs.

Australia's immigration intake between 2014 and 2015 alone would provide 10 billion Australian dollars ($7.77 billion) to the country's budget over the next five decades.

The findings come amid a vocal national debate regarding the current annual migration intake of 190,000.

"Migrants deliver an economic dividend for Australia due to current policy settings which favour migrants of working age who have skills to contribute to the economy. This leads to higher rates of workforce participation and likely productivity benefits," the study said.