New immigration stats out today show that 2010 set a new record for net migration into the UK. The figure hit 252,000 – a 27 per cent increase on 2009 and 7,000 higher than the previous
record in 2004:
As this graph shows, the number of immigrants moving to the UK has actually been fairly constant – at around 580,000 – since 2004 (when the ‘accession eight’ countries in eastern Europe
joined the EU). But the number of people leaving the country has dropped off significantly in the past couple of years – from 427,000 in 2008 to 339,000 last year, hence the increase in net
migration.
So, as Gillian Duffy might ask, where are they flocking from? Here’s where the 591,000 people who migrated to the UK last year came from:
And why do they come? Predominantly to study: 40 per cent of immigrants said formal study was their main reason for moving to the UK.
In fact, the influx of students is the main driver of net migration. A similar number of people leave the UK to work or look for a work as come here to do so, whereas 209,000 more came to study
here than left the UK to study elsewhere:
So what does this all mean for the ongoing immigration debate? Well, it certainly shows that Cameron’s goal of net migration in the ‘tens of thousands’ is a long way off, and that to achieve it
there’d need to be a huge reduction in the number of foreign students coming to Britain. But then, as Matt Cavanagh’s pointed out, that’s not something most people support. It’s a reminder
that, while the overall aim is popular, the policies needed to get there might not be.
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