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India, Poland, Pakistan, Romania, and Ireland were the most common countries of birth among UK migrants in 2021/22
According to the 2021/22 Census, an estimated 32% of all foreign-born residents in the UK came from five countries – India (9%), Poland (8%), Pakistan (6%), Romania (5%), and Ireland (4%).
Figure 3
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Family was the most common reason for coming to the UK among the foreign-born population in 2022, followed by work
The most common reason given by migrants for moving to the UK was family (37%), followed by work (29%) and study (14%) in 2022, the latest year for which data was available.
The large share of family migrants among the UK’s foreign-born population is due to different settlement patterns among migrant groups. While people coming on family visas make up a relatively small part of overall immigration into the UK, they are much more likely to settle permanently (for more details, see the Migration Observatory’s briefings, Migrant settlement in the UK and Family migration to the UK).
Figure 4
Work was the main reason for coming to the UK among EU migrants, while non-EU migrants were more likely to say they came for family reasons (Figure 6). The share of work migrants is particularly high among those from newer EU member states in Central and Eastern Europe. For more details about work migration and the jobs migrants do in the UK, see the Migration Observatory’s briefings, Work visas and migrant workers in the UK and Migrants in the UK Labour Market: An Overview.
Moving to the UK to study was relatively less common among the UK’s foreign-born population, at 14% of the total. While the UK receives large numbers of international students, relatively few of them settle in the country permanently. For more details about international students, see the Migration Observatory’s briefing, Student migration to the UK.
Another 11% of all migrants said they came to the UK for other reasons, which includes humanitarian protection. Britain saw higher numbers of asylum applications after the pandemic. In addition, the government created several bespoke humanitarian routes in response to the geopolitical situations in Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Hong Kong. For more details, see the Migration Observatory’s briefings, Asylum and refugee resettlement in the UK, Ukrainian migration to the UK, and Afghan asylum seekers and refugees in the UK.
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London has the largest proportion of migrants among UK regions, with over 40% of its residents born abroad
Migrants are much more concentrated in some parts of the UK than others. Around 47% of all foreign-born residents in the UK lived in London and the South East at the time of the 2021/22 Census. This compared to just 27% of the overall population (for more details, see the Migration Observatory’s briefing, Where do migrants live in the UK?).
London stands out among all other regions in the UK. More than 40% of its residents had been born abroad, according to the 2021 Census. The national average was 16%, and percentages were below this average in all other regions of the country (Figure 4). The North East (7%), Wales (7%), and Northern Ireland (9%) had the lowest shares of foreign-born residents (for more details at the local authority level, see the Migration Observatory’s Local Data Guide).
Figure 5
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Compared to people born in the UK, migrants are more likely to be of working age and have a university degree
Most migrants in the UK are between the ages of 20 and 60. Around 72% of the foreign-born population was in this group, according to data from the 2021/22 Census. In contrast, the share among those born in the UK was 49%. Migrants were also less likely to be in their childhood or retirement years.
On average, migrants from the EU tend to be younger than those born in non-EU countries (see Figure 6 to select and explore different groups). This difference is driven by migrants born in post-2004 member states like Poland, Romania, or Lithuania.
Figure 6
According to the latest Census, migrants were slightly more likely to be female than people born in the UK, at 53% vs. 51%. These differences were especially pronounced among migrants born in East or Southeast Asia (60% female), and the Americas and Caribbean (57% female).
There are other key differences between migrants and people born in the UK (Figure 7). According to the 2021 Census in England and Wales, 41% of those born abroad had a university degree, compared to 25% of people born in the UK. Migrants were more ethnically diverse, healthier, and more likely to live in privately rented accommodation. Around 10% of migrants reported poor levels of English, while household deprivation levels were similar to the rest of the population. The same data showed that 58% of migrants in England and Wales had been living in the UK for at least 10 years.
For more details about the characteristics of migrants in the UK, see the following Migration Observatory briefings: Migrants and Housing in the UK, The health of migrants in the UK, Deprivation and the NRPF condition, English language use and proficiency of migrants in the UK, and Permanent or Temporary: How long do migrants stay in the UK?.
Figure 7
Acknowledgements
The original iteration of this briefing was written by Dr Cinzia Rienzo.
Source link : https://migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk/resources/briefings/migrants-in-the-uk-an-overview/
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Publish date : 2024-08-09 07:00:00
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