2014 12 19_migrants in the uk-overview_migration_obsrvatory

Migrants in the UK: An Overview

www.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk

AUTHOR: DR CINZIA RIENZO DR CARLOS VARGAS-SILVAPUBLISHED: 19/12/2014NEXT UPDATE: 19/12/2015

4th Revision

BRIEFING

BRIEFING: Migrants in the UK: An Overview BRIEFING: Migrants in the UK: An Overview

THE MIGRATION OBSERVATORY | WWW.MIGRATIONOBSERVATORY.OX.AC.UK PAGE 2

Key Points

Between 1993 and 2013 the foreign-born population in the UK more than doubled from 3.8 million to around 7.8 million. During the same period, the number of foreign citizens increased from nearly 2 million to nearly 5 million.

London has the greatest number of migrants (2.8 million foreign-born people in 2013) among all regions with comparable data in the UK.

In 2013, the UK population was 12.5% foreign-born (up from 7% in 1993) and 7.9% foreign citizens (up from 4% in 1993).

Foreign-born people constituted 37% of Inner London’s population in 2013 (the highest share among all regions with comparable data).

India is the most common country of birth among the foreign-born, but Poland tops the list of foreign citizens in the UK.

This briefing provides an overview of the number, population share, geographic distribution and nationalities of migrants in the UK.

Understanding the evidenceThis briefing defines the migrant population as the foreign-born population in the UK. Wherever relevant and indicated, the briefing also provides figures for foreign citizens residing in the UK, as well as for recent migrants – defined as foreign-born people who have been living in the UK for five years or less. Definitions have a significant impact on the analysis of the number of migrants in the UK and there is significant overlap between those who belong to the foreign-born group and those who belong to the foreign citizens group.

The briefing includes all migrants, irrespective of their age and employment status. All data in this briefing are taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) using the fourth quarter of each year.



The stock of the migrant population more than doubled from 1993 to 2013The size of the foreign-born population in the UK increased from about 3.8 million in 1993 to over 7.9 million in 2013 (see Figure 1). During the same period the number of foreign citizens increased from nearly 2 million to nearly 5 million.

The number of foreign-born people in the UK increased in almost every year, although there were slight decreases in 1996, 2007 and 2010, while the number of foreign-born increased again from 2011 (fourth quarter data). Over the whole time period analysed (1993 to 2013) the highest growth in the foreign-born population occurred between 2005 and 2006, with the stock of migrants increasing by about 900,000 (15%). This period coincides with the significant inflow of East European migrants following EU enlargement in 2004.

Although the numbers of both female and male migrants have increased over time, women have constituted the majority of the UK’s migrant population stock since at least 1993. In 2013, 54% of the foreign-born population were women.

London has the largest number of migrants among all regions of the UK Table 1 presents the distribution of the foreign-born population across England’s government office regions (GORs), Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. There is significant variation in the geographic distribution of migrants in the UK. In 2013, about half of the UK’s foreign-born population were in London (36.2%) and the South East (13.7%). Northern Ireland, the North East and Wales have a low share of the UK’s total foreign-born population, 1.5%, 1.8% and 2.0% respectively. In comparison, the UK-born population is more evenly distributed. In 2013, only 7.9% of the whole UK-born population lived in London.

Foreign-bornpopulationintheUK,1993-2013Chartprovidedbywww.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk

Men Women

1993

1994

1995

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8000000NumberofMigrants

Source : Labour Force Survey. Quarter 4

Figure 1

Region 2013London 36.2%

South East 13.73%

East 7.92%

North West 7.32%

West Midlands 7.74%

East Midlands 5.91%

Yorkshire & the Humber 6.22%

South West 5.31%

Scotland 4.42%

Wales 2.0%

North East 1.8%

Northern Ireland 1.5%

Table 1 - Distribution of foreign-born population, 2013



Table 2 shows the number of foreign-born people in different UK regions over time. The LFS provides information at the regional level for 20 regions (see Table 2), as defined by the UK Office for National Statistics.

In 2013 about 1.2 million foreign-born people were living in Inner London and nearly 1.6 million were living in Outer London. The smallest number of foreign-born individuals was found in the ‘Rest of North East’ region of England. The largest percentage increases during the 1995 and 2013 periods occurred in Tyne and Wear, Rest of Scotland and East Midlands. This is not surprising given the small number of migrants these regions had in 1995. Between 1995 and 2013 Rest of North East and Rest of West Midlands experienced the lowest percentage increase in the number of migrants (up 65%). South Yorkshire and Rest of North East experienced a much larger increase in the migrant population (127 and 124% respectively).

Table 2 - Number of foreign-born by region

The UK population was 12.5% foreign-born and 8% non-British citizen in 2013 The share of foreign-born people in the UK’s total population increased by over 50% between 1993 and 2013, i.e. from 7 to nearly 12.5% (see Figure 2). During the same period, the share of foreign citizens rose from 3.6 to 7.9%, while that of recent migrants increased from 1.4 to 3.2%. There was a significant percentage increase in the share of foreign-born people in the UK’s total population during the 2004-2008 period.

Source: Labour Force Survey, Q4

Region 1995 2000 2005 2009 20131995-2013

% changeTyne and Wear 24,422 30,838 49,640 70,870 75,666 210%

Rest of North East 29,469 33,399 37,765 57,955 66,072 124%

Greater Manchester 165,990 141,808 215,707 296,982 333,992 101%

Merseyside 34,696 30,025 61,184 55,401 70,755 104%

Rest of North West 102,607 104,538 134,609 165,536 169,369 65%

South Yorkshire 49,156 37,228 63,364 85,717 111,557 127%

West Yorkshire 140,064 153,822 196,834 209,174 279,192 99%

Rest of Yorkshire & Humberside 56,247 44,805 63,766 97,269 97,226 73%

East Midlands 202,744 193,857 286,317 365,375 463,362 129%

West Midlands Metropolitan County 261,892 285,397 325,933 392,264 450,950 72%

Rest of West Midlands 94,405 85,792 93,760 155,675 156,059 65%

East of England 308,707 346,073 457,406 568,777 621,145 101%

Inner London 815,991 963,874 1,186,956 1,165,098 1,220,028 50%

Outer London 827,593 1,021,995 1,158,511 1,451,702 1,619,441 96%

South East 513,862 597,303 720,505 903,033 1,076,988 110%

South West 210,170 214,237 276,352 342,533 416,309 98%

Wales 80,399 84,034 107,396 136,792 155,141 93%

Strathclyde 59,781 65,494 87,147 123,121 121,600 103%

Rest of Scotland 97,460 109,905 141,258 207,845 224,984 131%

Northern Ireland 53,083 80,925 70,376 101,051 114,920 116%

Total 4,128,738 4,625,349 5,734,786 6,952,170 7,844,756 90%



Figure 2

The share of migrants in the population varies significantly across regions but has been increasing in all regions over time The share of migrants in the population varies significantly across regions (see Figure 3). In 2013 the number of foreign-born people relative to total population was greatest in Inner London (37%) and Outer London (33%). The region with the third highest proportion of migrants was West Midlands Metropolitan County where 17% of the population was foreign-born. ‘Rest of North East’ was home to the population with the smallest proportion of foreign-born people. While the concentration of foreign-born individuals varies across the UK, since 1995 the share of foreign-born people in the UK population has increased in every region.

Figure 3

Shareofforeign-borninthepopulationbyregion,1995-2013Chartprovidedbywww.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk

1995 2000 2005 2009 2013

Tyn

e & W

ear

Rest

of N. E

ast

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ater

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Source : Labour Force Survey. Q4

Shareofmigrantsinthepopulation,1993-2013Chartprovidedbywww.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk

Foreignborn ForeigncitizenRecent

1993

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2007

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2011

2013

Year

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14%


Shareofmigrantsinthepopulation,1993-2013Chartprovidedbywww.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk

Foreignborn ForeigncitizenRecent

1993

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2013

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Shareofforeign-borninthepopulationbyregion,1995-2013Chartprovidedbywww.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk

1995 2000 2005 2009 2013

Tyn

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Rest

of N. E

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ater

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Inner and Outer London also remain the areas with the highest share of migrants in the total population when focusing on foreign citizens (see Figure 4). Foreign citizens made up 22 and 20% of the population respectively in Inner and Outer London.

The share of recent migrants in the population varies from 0.7% in the ‘Rest of North East’ to 8.7% in Outer London and 6.6% in Inner London.

Figure 4

India is the most common country of birth among the foreign-born, but Poland tops list of foreign citizens in the UK India, Poland, and Pakistan are the top three countries of birth for the foreign-born (Table 3) accounting respectively for 9.4, 8.7 and 6.4% of the total, followed by Ireland and Germany. India and Poland remain the top two countries of citizenship of foreign citizens, with Poles being the biggest group, accounting for about 13% of the total.

Table 3 - Top ten sender countries of migrants by country of birth and nationality, UK 2013

Shareofmigrantsinthepopulationbyregion,2013Chartprovidedbywww.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk

Foreign-born ForeigncitizenRecent

Tyn

e & W

ear

Rest

of N. E

ast

Gre

ater

Man

ches

ter

Mer

seys

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Rest

of N. W

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S. Y

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of Yo

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E. M

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%ofthepopulation


Country of birth Percentage share Nationality Percentage shareINDIA 9.4 POLAND 13.0

POLAND 8.7 INDIA 7.1

PAKISTAN 6.4 IRELAND 6.5

IRELAND 5.1 PAKISTAN 3.8

GERMANY 4.0 ROMANIA 3.0

SOUTH AFRICA 2.6 ITALY 2.8

UNITED STATES 2.5 LITHUANIA 2.8

NIGERIA 2.4 UNITED STATES 2.7

BANGLADESH 2.3 GERMANY 2.4

SRI LANKA 2.1 FRANCE 2.2



Those born in India constitute the biggest group among the foreign-born population in London India is the country of birth for 8.6% of all foreign-born persons living in London (Figure 5). Other Asian countries such as Pakistan (4.3%), Bangladesh (3.7%), and Sri Lanka (2.7%) are also in the top-ten countries of birth of migrants in London. Poland, Ireland, Italy and Romania are the four European countries in the top ten. With the exception of Italy, Romania and and Jamaica, the remaining top-ten countries of birth for migrants in London are also top-ten countries at the UK level.

Figure 5

Evidence gaps and limitationsThe LFS is a continuous survey of around 60,000 households each quarter. Although the LFS contains spatial information at a regional level, the standard release of LFS data set does not contain local authority identifiers. It is therefore not possible to use the standard LFS to analyse trends and characteristics of migration across local areas. The Annual Population Survey (APS) available since 2004 is more suitable for this purpose.

The LFS has some limitations for estimating the dynamics of migrants in the UK. First, it does not measure the scale of irregular migration. Second, it does not provide information on asylum seekers. Third, the LFS excludes those who do not live in households, such as those in hotels, caravan parks and other communal establishments. The LFS is therefore likely to underestimate the UK population of recent migrants.

Further reading• Salt, J. “International Migration and the United Kingdom, 2010.” Report of the United Kingdom SOPEMI

correspondent to the OECD, Migration Research Unit, University College London, 2011.

With thanks to Martin Ruhs and George Leeson for comments and suggestions in an earlier version of this briefing.

Top10countriesofbirthofmigrantsinLondon,2013Chartprovidedbywww.migrationobservatory.ox.ac.uk

Londonmigrantpopulation

Indi

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Poland

Paki

stan

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Sri L

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Italy

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Countryofbirth

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BRIEFING: Migrants in the UK: An Overview


The Migration ObservatoryBased at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) at the University of Oxford, the Migration Observatory provides independent, authoritative, evidence-based analysis of data on migration and migrants in the UK, to inform media, public and policy debates, and to generate high quality research on international migration and public policy issues. The Observatory’s analysis involves experts from a wide range of disciplines and departments at the University of Oxford.

About the authorsDr Cinzia RienzoResearch Fellow, [email protected]

COMPASThe Migration Observatory is based at the ESRC Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) at the University of Oxford. The mission of COMPAS is to conduct high quality research in order to develop theory and knowledge, inform policy-making and public debate, and engage users of research within the field of migration.www.compas.ox.ac.uk

Dr Carlos Vargas-SilvaSenior Researcher, [email protected]

Recommended citationRienzo, Cinzia and Carlos Vargas-Silva. “Migrants in the UK: An Overview,” Migration Observatory briefing, COMPAS, University of Oxford, December 2014.

Press contactRob McNeil Head of Media and Communications [email protected] + 44 (0)1865 274568 + 44 (0)7500 970081

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