Britain sees biggest migration spike of any advanced economy despite Brexit
Brexiteers repeatedly claimed leaving the European Union would see net migration to the UK come down
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Britain saw a bigger increase in net migration last year than any other developed economy, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has said.
In a blow to Brexiteers, who promised the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union would bring down net migration, the OECD said Britain had a bigger spike than 28 other economically advanced countries.
The UK’s population grew by a record 750,000 in 2023, a 52.9 per cent increase on the net migration figure a year earlier, it said.
It meant the flow of immigrants into the UK grew more quickly than the United States, Germany, Canada, France, Australia and Japan.
Only the US’s net migration total was higher, 500,000 more than Britain despite having a population almost five times as large.
The country with the second biggest percentage spike in migration in 2023 was Korea, which added 87,000 people.
Overall net migration to the UK has consistently exceeded pre-Brexit, pre-Covid levels of roughly 200,000 to 300,000, leading to significant anger with the previous Conservative government.
When the figures reached record levels under Rishi Sunak, then shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said it demonstrated “Tory chaos and failure”.
Prime minister Keir Starmer has promised to cut “sky-high” immigration levels, arguing that British workers can be trained to reduce the country’s reliance on overseas labour.
“It is, as a point of fact, the policy of this government to reduce both net migration and our economic dependency on it,” he said in his first Labour conference speech as PM.
The OECD said a third of economically advanced countries experienced record immigration in 2023, including Canada, France, Japan, Switzerland and the UK.
It said part of the record high immigration to the UK can be explained by the rapid growth of visas granted to the dependants of international students.
Labour has confirmed it will go ahead with Tory restrictions on international students bringing family members to the UK.
Universities have reported a sharp decline in applications from international students, following the introduction of the measures.
The Home Office recently reported an almost 80 per cent reduction in the number of dependents accompanying international students to the UK.
More than 26,000 fewer student visa applications were made between January and March 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, according to the report.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The PM has been clear that migration has been far too high in recent years and needs to come down. We have a clear plan to deliver this.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments