Annual immigration to the UK is at a record high

The balance of immigration to the United Kingdom reached a record high of about 504 thousand people in the year ending in June, according to official data showing this Thursday (24), driven by an increase in the number of citizens from outside the European Union (EU).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said a rebound in travel after the COVID-19 crisis and an increase in the arrival of international students attending remote classes during the pandemic contributed to the increase.

An estimated 1.1 million long-term migrants arrived in this period, up 435,000 from the previous year. The largest proportion of those who left the UK were EU citizens.

Three new visa schemes – for Ukrainians, Afghans and Britons from Hong Kong – added around 138,000 to the number of arrivals.

“A series of global events have affected patterns of international migration in the 12 months to June 2022. Together they are unprecedented,” said Guy Lindup, director of the Center for International Migration at the Office for National Statistics.

“Immigration of people from non-EU countries, specifically students, is driving this increase,” Lindup added. “The many independent factors contributing to migration at this point suggest that it is too early to say whether this picture will persist.”

Concerns about the impact of immigration were a major driver of the UK’s 2016 vote to leave the European Union. At the time, then-Prime Minister David Cameron failed for several years to reach an immigration credit of less than 100,000 a year.

The Office for National Statistics reported that emigration and net emigration figures, which do not include those arriving by clandestine routes such as small boats across the Channel, were the highest since it began collecting emigration statistics in 1964. The previous record for net emigration income was just over 330,000 in 2015.

A spokesperson for Rishi Sunak said the prime minister was “fully committed” to bringing down the overall numbers.

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