This is the first time in two years that the net migration
figure - the difference between the number of people arriving and leaving the
UK - had dropped below 300,000.
Overall immigration to the UK is estimated to be 596,000 – made
up of 268,000 EU citizens, 257,000 non-EU citizens and 71,000 British citizens.
Whilst EU immigration from several countries fell, record
numbers of Romanians and Bulgarians - 74,000 – came to live in the UK.
Around 323,000 people may have left the UK, slightly up on
the previous year by 26,000.
The levers are estimated include 128,000 British citizens,
103,000 EU citizens and 93,000 non-EU citizens, although exact figures for legal and illegal immigration in the UK are almost impossible to calculate.
Anglicising the figures, BBC Home Affairs Correspondent,
Dominic Casciani, said:
“Net migration is down. But while the net decrease looks
substantial, nobody can say for sure what's triggered the change because these
quarterly figures could have been influenced by a string of short-term factors.
“For a start, there appears to have been a rise in
emigration - and when that goes up, net migration can come down.
“Secondly, some of the change could be down to seasonal
fluctuations in student numbers.
“Thirdly, although there were significant departures by
people from some parts of Eastern Europe, the number coming from poorer Romania
and Bulgaria went up.”
In summary, the overall number of people arriving to work in
the UK is about the same as previous years. The UK still has jobs, while other
EU countries, such as Romania, Bulgaria, Spain, Italy, Portugal and Greece all
have high levels of unemployment.
Over 16,000 EU citizens were granted UK citizenship last year, indicating that despite Brexit many Europeans want to remain living in Britain.
Over 16,000 EU citizens were granted UK citizenship last year, indicating that despite Brexit many Europeans want to remain living in Britain.
The UK is an attractive place to work, start a business or buyproperty – no restrictions on foreign buyers - a vibrant mortgage
market with record low interest rates.
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