The inconveniently-timed net migration figures are out this morning, and they’re not good for the Prime Minister’s pledge to get immigration into the ‘tens of thousands’ by the general election. The Office for National Statistics estimates that net long-term migration to the UK was 212,000 in 2013. This is a rise—one the ONS says is ‘not a statistically significant increase’—from 177,000 the previous year. But what is ‘significant’ is the increase in the number of EU migrants – 201,000 EU citizens came to the UK in 2013, up from 158,000 the previous year.
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The figures released today show 214,000 people came to the UK for work in 2013, which is a statistically significant increase from 158,000 the previous year. As for those leaving the UK, 314,000 people left the UK, compared to 321,000 the previous year.
The net migration figures may not be a ‘statistically significant increase’, but they’re also not a drop.
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