Census: 10 million people born outside UK now living in England and Wales

Figures showed there had been a 576 per cent increase in residents who were born in Romania

People on Oxford Street, in central London (PA) (PA Archive)

The number of people living in England and Wales who were born outside the UK has risen to 10 million, driven by a huge increase in Romanians, new census data has shown.

Figures released on Wednesday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed a 576 per cent rise in residents who were born in Romania – from 80,000 in 2011 to 539,000 in 2021.

According to the data, the number of usual residents of England and Wales who were born outside the UK had risen by 2.5 million since 2011.

The large increase in the number of those born in Romania followed the lifting of working restrictions across the European Union in 2014.

India remained the most common country of birth outside the UK – with those 925,000 people making up 1.5 per cent of the population.

The data showed those who listed Ireland as their country of birth declined from 407,000 in 2011 to 325,000 in 2021.

Commenting on the new figures, census deputy director Jon Wroth-Smith said: “The census paints a picture of how the make-up of the population has changed in the past decade. That decade, of course, saw us leave the EU as well as live with the pandemic.

“While these events may have had an impact on people’s decisions or ability to migrate or travel at a given time, the census tells us about the change over the whole decade – who was living here in March 2021, compared with March 2011.

“We can see Romanians have been a big driver in this change, while there have also been increases due to migration from India, Pakistan and Poland, as well as southern European countries such as Italy.

“We can also see that migration in the year prior to census was lower in 2021 than it was in 2011.

“This is likely, in large part, due to the various travel restrictions in place during the coronavirus pandemic.”