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African migration to the UK
David Owen
University of Warwick, UK
Aims of the paper
• To outline trends in migration from Africa to the UK
• To describe the living conditions of African migrants in the UK
• To contrast migrants from different regions of Africa
Structure of paper
• The data sources used
• Trends over time / types of migration
• Geography of Africans in the UK
• Demography and socio-economic circumstances of Africans
• Comparative position of Africans
• Conclusion
Data sources on African migration
• The main data source used for this paper was the Labour Force Survey for 2008 – a quarterly random survey of 160 thousand people (data presented is for Great Britain). This provides a wealth of information on demography and participation in the labour force.
• Geographical distribution from Census of Population for 2001
• DWP National Insurance number applications; represents people coming to UK to work
• Home Office UK Asylum statistics 2007 and Control of Immigration Statistics 2007
Migration trends• The LFS asks individuals the year in which they first entered the UK.
This gives an indication of the migration trend, but excludes those who returned to Africa.
• Migration of Black-Africans to the UK started rather later than that of Caribbean and South Asian people
• Until the late 1980s, total migration was around 5000 a year. The total reached 20 thousand in a number of years in the 1990s.
• The number of migrants increased rapidly at the turn of the century and remained around 30 thousand per year during this decade.
• Migration from West and Central Africa increased steadily during this period.
• Migration from East Africa increased rapidly in the early 1990s, afterwards falling, but increasing again after 2000.
• Migration from Southern Africa was highest around the year 2000.
Year of entry to the UK of Black African-born people, 1960-2007
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
40000
45000
50000
1960
1962
1964
1966
1968
1970
1972
1974
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
North
South
East
West
Africa
Asylum migration• Migration for asylum was a
major factor underlying Africa migration to the UK.
• The total number of asylum applications from Africa steadily increased throughout the 1990s, peaked in 2002, afterwards declining.
• The peak was 30.5 thousand in 2002.
• There were still 8.8 thousand applications in 2007
• There was a total of 171.5 thousand asylum applications from African principal applicants over the period 1998-2007.
0
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Asylu
m ap
plica
tions
from
Afri
ca
Asylum migration by country
• Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have experienced wars, civil conflict and political unrest since 1990 and have been the source of asylum applications to the UK.
• The bulk of asylum applications are from countries formerly colonised by the UK.
• Eastern and southern Africa was the largest source of asylum applications.
• The largest individual source of applications was Somalia (43 thousand), followed by Zimbabwe (21 thousand), Congo and DR Congo (both 11.5 thousand), Nigeria (9.8 thousand) and Algeria (8.3 thousand)
Asylum applications by country 1998-2007
Asylum applications 1998-2007
0 5,000 10,000 15,000 20,000 25,000 30,000 35,000 40,000 45,000 50,000
Algeria
Angola
Burundi
Cameroon
Congo
Dem. Rep. of Congo
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Gambia
Ghana
Ivory Coast
Kenya
Liberia
Nigeria
Rw anda
Sierra Leone
Somalia
Sudan
Tanzania
Uganda
Zimbabw e
Other sub Saharan Africa
Trends in asylum migration from the largest sources, 1997-2007
• Asylum migration started in the early 1990s in Somalia, and was still running at over 5 thousand per year in the late 1990s. It has declined since 2002.
• Asylum applications from Sierra Leone and Algeria declined after 2000/2001.
• Asylum migration from other countries was building up in the late 1990s.
• For Zimbabwe, asylum flows peaked in 2002 at 7.7 thousand. This year also saw peak asylum flows from DR Congo.
• There has been a steady flow of asylum applications (around 1000 per year) from Nigeria.
• Asylum migration from Eritrea steadily increased over the period 1997-2007. Asylum applications from Sudan have also been increasing.
Trends in asylum migration from Africa,1998-2008
0
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
8,000
9,000
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Asy
lum
ap
plic
atio
ns
Algeria
Dem. Rep. of Congo
Eritrea
Nigeria
Sierra Leone
Somalia
Sudan
Zimbabw e
Migration from Africa for employment
• The main sources of information on work-related migration are DWP data on National Insurance number allocations and Home Office information on work permits issued.
• Over the period 2002-8, an average of 60 thousand NI numbers per annum were allocated to African nationals.
• This probably overstates migration for work due to double-counting. Nevertheless, migration for work-related reasons now greatly exceeds asylum migration.
• The largest number of NI numbers allocated during the financial year 2006/7 was to South Africans (17 thousand), followed by Nigerians (12.5 thousand), Ghana (5.5 thousand) and Zimbabwe (4.1 thousand).
National Insurance numbers allocated to African nationals, 2002-8
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
NI n
um
ber
s al
loca
ted
(00
0s)
Largest National Insurance number allocations to African nationals 2006/7
0 2000 4000 6000 8000 10000 12000 14000 16000 18000
South Africa
Nigeria
Ghana
Zimbabw e
Somalia
Kenya
Eritrea
Algeria
Tanzania
Gambia
Uganda
Egypt
Zambia
Cameroon
Morocco
Sierra Leone
Malaw i
Sudan
Congo
Libya
Ethiopia
Tunisia
Botsw ana
Cote D'ivoire
Democratic Rep of Congo
NI number allocations 2006/7
Employment-related migration from Africa, 1997-2007
• The number of people from Africa with work permits permitted to settle in the UK steadily increased from 4 thousand in 1997 to 2002 to a peak of 15.7 thousand.
• The numbers declined slowly after 2002, but were still 10 thousand in 2007.
• This probably reflects the rapid increase in recruitment of African doctors and nurses by the NHS, since the bulk of admissions were for people working for 12 months or more.
• The number of dependants admitted steadily increased, representing a third of all grants in 1997 and around two-fifths in 2007.
• In addition, 2.5 thousand students from Africa (1331 males, 1179 females) were accepted onto UK higher education courses in 2007/8 (UCAS data).
Work permit holders and dependants from Africa, given leave to enter the UK
1997-2007
0
2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
18,000
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007
Dependants of w ork permit holders
Employment for less than 12 months
Employment for 12 months or more
Regional distribution of Black-African people in England and Wales
• Black-African people mainly live in the southern and eastern regions of England and Wales
• Over three-quarters of Black-African people born in Africa lived in London in 2001.
• Nearly half lived in Inner London.• The South-East has the second
largest number of Black African people, but mainly in the larger cities and towns near London.
• People form West and Central Africa are most concentrated in London, especially Inner London.
• People from South and East Africa have a more geographically widespread distribution than other Africans.
AfricaNorth Africa
West and Central Africa
South and East Africa
LONDON 77.0 57.2 83.8 69.5
Inner London 45.9 36.7 53.5 36.5
Outer London 31.1 20.6 30.3 33.0
NORTH EAST 0.6 2.2 0.5 0.7
NORTH WEST 3.5 7.3 2.8 4.2
YORKSHIRE AND THE HUMBER 2.3 5.1 1.4 3.3
EAST MIDLANDS 2.2 2.5 1.2 3.4
WEST MIDLANDS 2.6 3.8 1.8 3.6
EAST 3.7 4.7 2.8 4.8
SOUTH EAST 5.9 12.1 4.4 7.5
SOUTH WEST 1.4 2.9 0.8 2.0
ENGLAND 99.2 97.8 99.6 98.9
WALES 0.8 2.2 0.4 1.1
ENGLAND & WALES 300046 9527 166271 124248
Geographical distribution of Black-African people
Black African-born people2001 Census of Population
24,00012,000
2,400
North AfricaWest & Central AfricaSouth & East Africa
Largest national origins • In 2008, the Black African-born population of the UK was nearly 0.5
million.• There were 6 countries from which there were 20 thousand or more
Black-African migrants present in the UK in 2008; Nigeria, Ghana, Somalia, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Kenya.
• The largest single country of origin was Nigeria with 125 thousand people.
• Overall, there were 855 males per thousand females among Black African-born people.
• In the larger countries of origin, females strongly outnumbered males, but males were strongly in the majority in many smaller countries.
• Amongst Somalis, there were 566 males per thousand females.
Countries of origin of African migrants
0
20000
40000
60000
80000
100000
120000
140000
ALGERIA
ANGOLA
BOTSW
ANA
BURUNDI
CAMEROO
N
CHAD
CONG
O
CONG
O (D
EMOCRATI
C REPUBLI
C)
BENIN
ETHIOPIA
ERITREA
DJIBOUTI
GABO
N
GAM
BIA, T
HE
GHANA
GUIN
EA
IVO
RY CO
AST
KENYA
LIBERIA
MALI
MO
ROCCO
MO
ZAMBIQ
UE
NAMIB
IA
NIGER
NIGERIA
GUIN
EA-BIS
SAU
RWANDA
SENEGAL
SIERRA L
EONE
SOM
ALIA
SOUTH A
FRICA
ZIMBABW
E
SUDAN
SWAZIL
AND
TOGO
TUNISIA
UGANDA
EGYPT
TANZANIA
BURKINA
ZAMBIA
AFRICA N
OT O
THERWIS
E SPECIF
IED
Female
Male
Age and gender structure of Black African-born people, 2008
10000.00 8000.00 6000.00 4000.00 2000.00 0.00 2000.00 4000.00 6000.00 8000.00 10000.00
1
6
11
16
21
26
31
36
41
46
51
56
61
66
71
76
81
86
91
96A
ge
in y
ears
Male Female
• Predominantly younger adults• Females in the majority in most age groups; but surveys find it harder to contact
males• Few older people• Few young children• Larger number of teenage children – girls strongly in majority
Age structure and geographical origins of Black-Africans
• Around half of Black-Africans were aged 25-44 in 2008.• Those from West Africa tended to be older, with a smaller
percentage of children and young adults and a higher percentage of older adults and pensioners.
• The youngest population was from East Africa; a quarter of whom were young adults.
• The percentage of children was highest for East Africans.
% aged0-15
% aged16-24
% aged25-44
%aged45-64
% aged65+ Total
North - - - - - 1888
South 14.6 18.2 52.5 14.0 - 64897
East 13.0 24.6 45.9 13.4 - 154217
West 9.5 12.6 50.7 22.6 4.7 276063
Africa 11.2 17.1 49.3 18.7 3.7 497064
Family structure of African migrants
• Overall, half of African migrants live in married couples and a further 6 per cent as cohabiting couples.
• Just over a fifth are single, and a quarter are lone parents.• Just over three-fifths live with dependent children• East Africans are least likely to be living in married couples and most likely
to be lone parents (33.1 per cent)• South Africans are most likely to be living in married couples• West Africans are most likely to be single
North South East West Total
Single person household - 17.7 22.2 23.2 22.1
Married couple - 52.6 39.1 50.6 47.5
Cohabiting couple - - 5.6 7.1 6.2
Lone parent - 25.8 33.1 19.0 24.2
Same sex/civil partner - - - - -
Living with dependent children - 62.7 66.2 61.0 62.8
1888 64897 154217 276063 497064
Labour market situation by geographical origin
• The economic situation of African migrants is relatively favourable.• Male economic activity and employment rates are close to average, but the
unemployment rate is relatively high.• For women, economic activity and employment rates are slightly below average and
the unemployment rate is above average.• People from Southern Africa have the most favourable economic situation, with high
activity and low unemployment rates• However, people from East Africa are least likely to be economically active and most
likely to be unemployed.
Males Females
Economic activity rate
Employment rate
Unemployment rate
Economic activity rate
Employment rate
Unemployment rate
North 71.7 65.2 9.1 38.7 34.5 11.0
South 87.7 84.7 3.5 79.2 75.7 4.4
East 77.5 69.3 10.5 55.9 51.1 8.6
West 83.1 75.1 9.7 69.6 65.1 6.5
Africa 80.9 74.9 7.4 65.2 61.0 6.4
Economic activity of African migrants by period of immigration
• The economic activity rate in 2008 is much higher for migrants who arrived between 1970 and 1989 than for more recent migrants.
• Those arriving in the 1990s are more likely to be economically active and in work than those who arrived after 2000
• Just over half of post-2000 migrants are in employment and an eighth of those economically active are unemployed
Economic activity rate Employment rate Unemployment rate
1970-1989 78.9 69.0 12.6
1990-1999 72.4 62.3 14.0
2000 onwards 61.0 53.2 12.8
Economic activity of Africans by age
• Economic activity rates increase with age
• A high percentage of economically inactive younger people are in education
• Economic activity rates are highest for people in their thirties
• Men are more likley than women to be economically active
Male
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
16-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70+
Inactive
ILO unemployed
In employment
Female
0
5000
10000
15000
20000
25000
30000
35000
40000
16-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 65-69 70+
Inactive
ILO unemployed
In employment
Educational qualifications of African migrants
• Overall, nearly a quarter of African migrants possess a degree or equivalent qualification
• A quarter have ‘other’ qualifications• An eighth have no educational qualifications• West Africans are most likely to have a degree or higher level qualification• East Africans are least likely to have a degree and least likely to have no
qualifications• South Africans are most likely to have higher education or A-level equivalent
qualifications – probably commensurate with associate professional (inc. nursing occupations)
North South East West Africa
Degree or equivalent - 16.9 15.5 28.7 23.2
Higher educ - 20.1 9.1 11.4 11.8
GCE A Level or equiv - 18.3 13.3 12.8 13.6
GCSE grades A-C or equiv - 14.7 11.1 9.4 10.5
Other qualifications - 23.3 25.5 27.3 26.3
No qualification - - 24.3 9.2 13.5
Don't know - - - - -
1888 54810 131684 243917 432297
Types of job held by African migrants
• Women tend to do associate professional and personal service occupations
• For men, the largest occupation is elementary occupations (26 per cent), followed by professional and associate professional occupations
• South Africans are more likely to be concentrated in associate professional and personal service occupations than other Africans.
• West Africans are most likely to work in elementary occupations
Occupations of African migrants
North South East West Africa Male Female
1: Managers and Senior Officials - - - 7.0 6.3 7.6 -
2 : Professional Occupations - - - 15.1 13.4 18.1 7.8
3 : Associate Professional and Technical Occupations - 26.9 17.9 13.0 16.2 11.4 22.0
4 : Administrative and Secretarial Occupations - - - 10.0 8.8 7.9 10.0
5 : Skilled Trades Occupations - - - 3.9 3.7 4.4 -
6 : Personal Service Occupations - 28.9 17.0 14.8 17.2 9.9 26.1
7 : Sales and Customer Service occupations - - - 7.1 8.0 5.5 11.1
8 : Process, Plant and Machine Operatives - - - 6.3 5.8 9.5 -
9 : Elementary Occupations - - 22.0 22.7 20.6 26.0 14.1
Total 1522 36567 54649 160644 253381 139720 113979
Conclusion
• Migration from Africa to the UK has been accelerating in the last 20 years and the Black African-born population has reached 0.5 million
• Economic migration is now becoming more important than asylum migration
• The population is predominantly of prime economically active age, and the majority are female
• The economic circumstances of the African population is relatively favourable
• Africans are more likely to work in non-manual than manual occupations, but over a quarter work in elementary occupations