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28 December 2019

The Guardian: Net migration from EU into UK at lowest level since 2003, ONS says


Net migration from the EU into the UK is at its lowest level since before the bloc was enlarged to take in countries including Poland and Lithuania, figures suggest.

The difference between EU nationals arriving and leaving in the year ending June 2019 was 48,000, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show, the lowest level since 2003, when it was 15,000 and before the so-called EU8 countries joining the union: Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

EU net migration climbed to a peak of 219,000 in the year to March 2015 and has been falling ever since against the backdrop of the referendum and the Brexit negotiations.

The fall is driven by a decline in EU immigration, down from a 305,000 peak in March 2015 to 199,000 in the year to June, while EU emigration is up to 151,000 from a trough of 75,000 in the year to March 2013.

The lower value of the pound making the UK less attractive, improving economic prospects in EU countries of origin, and the political uncertainty of the prolonged Brexit process are all factors that have influenced the decline in net EU migration.

However, an estimated 229,000 more non-EU citizens moved to the UK than left in the year ending June 2019 – this has gradually increased since 2013 largely because of a rise in non-EU immigration, while emigration has remained broadly stable.

The distinction is important because the government’s immigration policy is focused on ending freedom of movement with the EU with a broader argument that the country has no control of this side of migration. But the element over which it does have control – immigration outside the EU – continues to rise. EU net migration has declined without restricting freedom of movement. [...]

Full articles on The Guardian

Related article on Financial Times: Conservatives pledge tighter border controls after Brexit



© The Guardian


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