Wellington's quality of life is attracting skilled migrants to live in the city and contribute to its economic prosperity, according to a Department of Labour study.

The migrants, who came to Wellington under the skilled migrant category, said they had deliberately chosen Wellington above other cities because of the city's physical beauty and geographical compactness, its unique labour market, educational institutions and family connections.

The 22 migrants interviewed for the study, Why Wellington?, were selected from people living close to the Wellington central business district and included people from the United Kingdom, South Africa, Japan, Taiwan, China, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vanuatu and Fiji.

The study participants were highly skilled people - all but four were professionals or managers.

Participants who chose to make Wellington their home said they found the city socially diverse and friendly.

"The lifestyle here is very ideal, you know I can have a reasonably good job and also urban life (but at the same time) so close to the nature things especially in Wellington, 10 minutes to everything.

"Ten minutes to beach, 10 minutes to the forest, to the bush, yeah and 10 minutes to downtown," one woman said.

The study will be followed up with further studies with migrants in other centres to explore similarities and differences in the motivations that underpin the national patterns of settling and further migration decisions, head of immigration Nigel Bickle said today.

"These findings help us learn more about how we can attract and retain the people we need for our economy to grow.

"Immigration plays a vital role in securing New Zealand's prosperity," Mr Bickle said

"It supplies critical skills for our workforce, visitors for our valuable tourism industry and overseas students for our education industry, which are all important for the Wellington economy and its continued growth."

Wellington Mayor Celia Wade-Brown said the study "helps to confirm what we all know about our city.

"Wellington is a compact, cosmopolitan city in a beautiful environment."

(Source NZPA)