(2) from which 20 countries the most immigrants to the UK came in each of the last 10 years; and how many of each nationality immigrated in each year;
(3) how many (a) UK nationals and (b) non-UK nationals emigrated from the UK in each of the last 10 years, broken down by (i) age and (ii) sex.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 3 March 2008:
The National Statistician has been asked to reply to your questions relating to nationality of migrants:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, from which 20 countries the most immigrants to the UK came in each of the last 10 years; and how many of each nationality immigrated in each year. (177406)
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many (a) UK nationals and (b) non-UK nationals emigrated from the UK in each of the last 10 years, broken down by (i) age and (ii) sex. (177411)
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many emigrants from the UK counted for the purpose of calculating emigration were (a) UK nationals, (b) UK nationals of working age and (c) skilled workers who were UK nationals of working age in each of the last 10 years for which figures are available; and what percentage of the total emigration figure in each year each of these figures represent. (177453)
I am replying in her absence.
A long-term international migrant is defined as someone who changes his or her country of usual residence for a period of at least a year, so that the country of destination effectively becomes the country of usual residence. This is the United Nations recommended definition of a long-term international migrant and is the definition used for calculating population estimates and projections.
Total International Migration (TIM) estimates provide the most comprehensive figures on long-term international migration. The main source for producing these estimates is the International Passenger Survey (IPS).
While other migration flows, not captured by the IPS, are included in the TIM estimates, the nature of these other data sources and the methods used to produce TIM mean that some detailed queries can only be answered using the IPS. As a sample survey, data from the IPS are subject to a statistical margin of error.
For IPS purposes “citizenship” is taken to be the nationality of the passport being used by the passenger and in this context ‘British’ includes the whole of the UK and Gibraltar. These definitions have been used in providing the information you have requested.
Table 1 lists the top 20 citizenships of those migrating into the UK in each of the years 1997 to 2006. The top category in each year, British citizens, predominantly comprises British passport holders returning to the UK after a stay of a year or more abroad. As indicated in the table, estimates for some of the top 20 countries have a wide margin of statistical sampling error. For this reason, in Table 2, estimated numbers are presented for combined years for the top 10 countries only. The tables all refer to the citizenship of the immigrant, not their country of last residence. (177406)
Table 3 attached, shows how many British nationals and non British nationals emigrated from the UK in each of the years between 1997 and 2006 (the latest year available), broken down by age group and sex. (177411)
Table 4, attached, gives the International Passenger Survey estimates of emigration of British citizens by working age and previous occupation and as a percentage of total emigration, for the United Kingdom. IPS data do not specifically identify ‘skilled workers’. The closest prosy is ‘usual occupation prior to migration’ which is based on very broad occupational groupings. Most of those in the ‘professional and managerial’ category could be considered skilled workers although some, such as professionals taking early retirement would not fall under this category. Also, the ‘manual and clerical’ grouping, which covers all other workers, may include some skilled workers such as tradesmen and so this is also shown for information. (177453)
1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 1 British British British British British 2 France1 Australia Australia Australia Australia 3 Australia United States of America United States of America India France1 4 United States of America France1 France1 China (Peoples Republic) India 5 Malaysia New Zealand New Zealand France1 Germany 6 India Greece South Africa United States of America South Africa 7 Greece1 South Africa China (Peoples Republic) South Africa1 China (Peoples Republic) 8 Germany1 Italy1 India New Zealand United States of America 9 Japan Germany1 Greece1 Germany1 Philippines 10 New Zealand Spain1 Germany1 Pakistan New Zealand 11 South Africa1 Japan Pakistan1 Italy1 Pakistan1 12 Pakistan India Japan Canada1 South Korea1 13 Bangladesh Malaysia1 Philippines1 Japan Malaysia 14 Canada1 Canada1 Slovakia1 Philippines Japan 15 Netherlands1 China (Peoples Republic)1 Italy1 Malaysia Bangladesh 16 Sweden1 Mauritius1 Malaysia Nigeria1 Greece1 17 South Korea1 Pakistan Denmark1 Greece1 Canada1 18 Spain1 Sweden1 Belgium1 South Korea1 Zimbabwe1 19 Cyprus1 Netherlands1 Austria1 Netherlands1 Thailand 20 Finland1 Denmark1 Kenya1 Sri Lanka Hungary1 1 Countries where the estimate has a standard error >25 per cent., these estimates are considered less reliable than other estimates. Notes: 1. The International Passenger Survey (IPS) is a continuous voluntary sample survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics. It covers the principal air, sea and channel tunnel routes between the UK and countries outside the British Isles. 2. This table relates solely to the IPS. IPS data form the major part of international migration. However, total international migration estimates are produced by combining migration data from the IPS, Home Office data on asylum seekers, migration data between the UK and the Irish Republic and adjustments for ‘switchers’, i.e. those whose initial length of stay intentions are not realised. Source: Office for National Statistics
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 1 British British British British British 2 China (Peoples Republic) China (Peoples Republic) India Poland Poland 3 South Africa India China (Peoples Republic) India India 4 India France1 South Africa South Africa Pakistan 5 Philippines Australia Australia China (Peoples Republic) Australia 6 Australia South Africa Pakistan Australia China (Peoples Republic) 7 United States of America United States of America Poland1 Pakistan South Africa 8 Germany1 Philippines United States of America United States of America United States of America 9 New Zealand Pakistan Philippines Germany1 Germany 10 Spain1 Portugal1 Germany1 New Zealand New Zealand 11 France1 New Zealand Lithuania1 Japan1 Philippines1 12 Japan1 Germany1 France1 Philippines Bangladesh 13 Pakistan Ghana Nigeria Bangladesh Nigeria 14 Italy1 Netherlands1 New Zealand Spain1 Slovakia1 15 Canada Canada Zimbabwe1 Nigeria Thailand1 16 Hong Kong1 Sri Lanka Spain1 Czech state1 France1 17 Netherlands1 Japan Czech state1 Slovakia1 Malaysia1 18 Kenya1 Malaysia1 Slovakia1 Sri Lanka1 Canada 19 Sri Lanka Bangladesh Sweden1 Malaysia1 Spain1 20 Greece1 Nigeria Thailand1 Italy1 Sri Lanka 1 Countries where the estimate has a standard error >25 per cent., these estimates are considered less reliable than other estimates. Notes: 1. The International Passenger Survey (IPS) is a continuous voluntary sample survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics. It covers the principal air, sea and channel tunnel routes between the UK and countries outside the British Isles. 2. This table relates solely to the IPS. IPS data form the major part of international migration. However, total international migration estimates are produced by combining migration data from the IPS, Home Office data on asylum seekers, migration data between the UK and the Irish Republic and adjustments for ‘switchers’, i.e. those whose initial length of stay intentions are not realised. Source: Office for National Statistics
l997-98 1999-2000 2001-02 Estimate Estimate Estimate All citizenships 591 All citizenships 713 All citizenships 758 1 British 195 British 214 British 207 2 Australia 39 Australia 50 Australia 51 3 France 36 United States of America 31 China (Peoples Republic) 43 4 United States of America 30 China (Peoples Republic 28 India 37 5 Greece 2 France 28 South Africa 35 6 New Zealand 21 India 27 Philippines 33 7 Germany 17 South Africa 26 United States of America 30 8 South Africa 16 New Zealand 25 Germany 28 9 India 16 Germany 20 France 25 10 Malaysia 15 Pakistan 17 New Zealand 21
Estimate Estimate All citizenships 945 All citizenships 1,025 1 British 183 British 169 2 India 81 Poland 109 3 China (Peoples Republic 63 India 103 4 South Africa 50 Pakistan 47 5 Australia 48 Australia 46 6 Pakistan 31 China (Peoples Republic) 45 7 France 31 South Africa 41 8 United States of America 30 United States of America 31 9 Philippines 23 Germany 26 10 Poland1 19 New Zealand 24 1 Countries where the estimate has a standard error >25 per cent., these estimates are considered less reliable than other estimates. Notes: 1. The International Passenger Survey (IPS) is a continuous voluntary sample survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics. It covers the principal air, sea and channel tunnel routes between the UK and countries outside the British Isles. 2. This table relates solely to the IPS. IPS data form the major part of international migration. However, total international migration estimates are produced by combining migration data from the IPS, Home Office data on asylum seekers, migration data between the UK and the Irish Republic and adjustments for ‘switchers’, i.e. those whose initial length of stay intentions are not realised. Source: Office for National Statistics
All ages Under 15 Persons Males Females Persons Males Females Persons Males Females British 1997 135 75 60 16 18 8 35 16 19 1998 114 60 54 13 9 14 20 19 11 1999 115 70 45 13 111 12 24 15 9 2000 141 81 60 15 16 19 26 16 10 2001 133 78 55 14 18 16 25 10 15 2002 164 90 74 115 110 15 33 17 17 2003 170 97 72 18 110 19 27 15 12 2004 184 90 95 16 17 110 29 15 15 2005 174 110 65 20 19 111 23 14 9 2006 196 114 83 18 10 19 26 15 10 Non-British 1997 97 50 47 9 5 14 33 19 14 1998 91 43 48 8 14 14 34 12 21 1999 130 62 68 10 17 14 42 16 26 2000 137 72 64 7 13 14 40 19 21 2001 117 57 60 7 14 13 34 15 19 2002 141 71 70 16 13 13 41 17 24 2003 144 68 77 11 17 14 42 13 28 2004 126 62 64 18 14 14 40 16 23 2005 154 78 77 14 13 11 50 27 23 2006 173 94 79 18 15 13 53 20 32
Persons Males Females Persons Males Females Persons Males Females British 1997 68 41 27 10 18 12 15 12 13 1998 65 34 31 110 17 14 16 12 14 1999 57 34 24 16 19 17 14 11 13 2000 74 44 29 22 114 18 14 11 13 2001 60 37 23 27 120 17 16 13 13 2002 77 46 31 31 16 115 17 11 16 2003 81 49 33 35 19 16 17 15 12 2004 84 46 38 46 21 25 19 12 17 2005 90 64 27 25 18 18 116 16 110 2006 98 57 41 32 22 19 122 19 113 Non-British 1997 48 22 26 17 14 13 11 — — 1998 43 23 20 16 14 12 — — — 1999 68 33 35 17 16 12 12 — 12 2000 83 46 37 16 13 13 — — — 2001 70 35 35 15 12 12 11 11 11 2002 83 44 40 110 16 14 11 11 — 2003 85 44 41 15 13 12 11 — 11 2004 74 39 35 13 12 11 12 11 11 2005 85 39 45 111 18 13 14 — 14 2006 102 63 38 19 16 13 12 — 12 1 Figures are where the estimate has a standard error >25 per cent., these estimates are considered less reliable than other estimates. 2 Age groups are split above and below retirement age. This is 60 for females and 65 for males. Notes: 1. The International Passenger Survey (IPS) is a continuous voluntary sample survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics. It covers the principal air, sea and channel tunnel routes between the UK and countries outside the British Isles. 2. This table relates solely to the IPS. IPS data forms the major part of international migration. However, total international migration estimates are produced by combining migration data from the IPS, Home Office data on asylum seekers, migration data between the UK and the Irish Republic and adjustments for ‘switchers’, i.e. those whose initial length of stay intentions are not realised.
Thousand Aged 16-59/641 All ages Professional and managerial Manual and clerical Estimate Percentage of total emigration Estimate Percentage of total emigration Estimate Percentage of total emigration Estimate Percentage of total emigration 1997 135 58 113 49 58 25 27 11 1998 114 56 94 46 48 23 23 11 1999 115 47 97 40 52 21 31 13 2000 141 51 121 44 75 27 28 10 2001 133 53 111 45 59 23 31 12 2002 164 54 141 46 77 25 34 11 2003 170 54 144 46 64 20 54 17 2004 184 59 158 51 72 23 47 15 2005 174 53 138 42 81 25 38 12 2006 196 53 154 42 75 20 48 13 1 The working age population is defined as men aged 16-64 and women aged 16-59. 2 Usual occupation before migration. Note: 1. The International Passenger Survey (IPS) is a continuous voluntary sample survey conducted by the Office for National Statistics. It covers the principal air, sea and channel tunnel routes between the UK and countries outside the British Isles. 2. This table relates solely to the IPS. IPS data form the major part of international migration. However, total international migration estimates are produced by combining migration data from the IPS, Home Office data on asylum seekers, migration data between the UK and the Irish Republic and adjustments for ‘switchers’, i.e. those whose initial length of stay intentions are not realised. Source: Office for National Statistics