Trends in Emigration: What do the official data show?Emigration: Don’t leave me this way?

BSPS Day Meeting

16 May 2013

Presentation Outline

• Who is an emigrant, according to which official data?

• What are the latest trends in emigration?• Who is emigrating?• Why are they emigrating?• Where are they emigrating to?

• Summary and questions

Who is an emigrant?

• Passenger A• Born in India in 1990• Holds Indian citizenship• Has lived in the UK

since September 2009, when he moved here for study

• Is moving back to India to take up a two-year fixed term accountancy job

• Passenger B• Born in the UK in 1990• Holds British citizenship• Has lived in the UK

since she was born• Is leaving the UK to

work in France for nine months

Who is an emigrant – the UN Definition

‘A person who moves to a country other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at least a year (12 months), so that the country of destination effectively becomes his or her new country of usual residence. From the perspective of the country of departure the person will be a long-term emigrant and from that of the country of arrival the person will be a long-term immigrant.’

United Nations (1998)

Which official data?

• Long-Term International Migration (LTIM), based largely on the International Passenger Survey (IPS) and including adjustments for:• Asylum Seekers• Cross border flows into and out of Northern Ireland• Those who change their intentions

• Other sources of official emigration data include:• Eurostat• OECD

What are the latest emigration trends?

Source: Long-term International Migration - Office for National Statistics

Emigration over the decades

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/interactive/theme-pages-1-1/index.html

Who is emigrating? – Citizenship

Source: Long-term International Migration - Office for National Statistics

Who is emigrating? – Age and Sex

Source: Long-term International Migration - Office for National Statistics

Reasons for Emigration

• Work-related reasons (including ‘definite job’ and ‘looking for work’)

• Accompany/join• Formal study• Other• No reason stated• Main reason for emigration may not

necessarily match reasons for intended immigration

Reasons for Emigration

Source: Long-term International Migration - Office for National Statistics

Where are people emigrating to?

Source: International Passenger Survey - Office for National Statistics

Where are people emigrating to?

Source: International Passenger Survey - Office for National Statistics

Where do emigrants leave from?

Source: International Passenger Survey - Office for National Statistics

In summary, the official data show:

• Emigration from the UK has declined since the mid-2000s, to around 350,000 a year since 2009;

• This decline includes British and non-British citizens;• 25-44 is the most common age at which to emigrate;• Work-related reasons are the most common reason

for emigration – emigration to accompany or join relatives has declined;

• Australia has been the most popular country to emigrate to amongst British citizens since 1985;

• 30 percent of emigrants leaving the UK leave from London.