Foreign-born population of the United Kingdom

This article is about foreign-born groups in the United Kingdom. For ethnic groups in the United Kingdom regardless of birthplace, see Ethnic groups in the United Kingdom.

Foreign born population of the United Kingdom by country of birth and nationality, 2004–2018 ^[1]

The foreign-born population of the United Kingdom includes immigrants from a wide range of countries who are resident in the United Kingdom. In the period January to December 2017, there were groups from 25 foreign countries that were estimated to consist of at least 100,000 individuals residing in the UK (people born in Poland, India, Pakistan, Romania, Ireland, Germany, Bangladesh, Italy, South Africa, China, Nigeria, Lithuania, France, Spain, the United States, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Portugal, Australia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Ghana, Latvia and Somalia). ^[2]

The foreign-born population increased from about 5.3 million in 2004 to nearly 9.3 million in 2018. In the decade leading up to 2018, the number of non-EU migrants outnumbered EU migrants while the number of EU migrants increased more rapidly. EU citizens were noted to be less likely to become British citizens than non-EU migrants. ^[1]

Size of the foreign-born population

Foreign-born population in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2021

Percentage born to foreign-born mothers in England and Wales in 2021

At the time of the UK census conducted in April 2001, 8.3 per cent of the country's population were foreign-born. ^[3] This was substantially less than that of major immigration countries such as Australia (23 per cent), Canada (19.3 per cent) and the USA (12.3 per cent). ^[4] In 2005, the foreign-born population was estimated at 9.1 per cent, compared to a European Union average of 8.6 per cent. ^[5] The 2011 census recorded 7,337,139 foreign-born residents in England, corresponding to 13.8 per cent of the population. ^[6] The foreign-born population of Wales was recorded as 167,871 (5.5 per cent), ^[7] Scotland's as 369,284 (7 per cent) ^[8] and Northern Ireland's as 119,186 (6.6 per cent), ^[9] making the total foreign-born population of the UK 7,993,480. ^{[10] [11]} Figures for each census since 1951 are given in the table below.

A 2010 estimate for the whole of the UK shows that 4.76 million people (7.7 per cent) were born outside the EU and 2.24 million (3.6 per cent) were born in another EU member state. ^[12]

The Office for National Statistics produces annual estimates of the size of the UK population by country of birth, based on the Annual Population Survey. The estimates for 2018 show that 9.3 million people (14 per cent of the usual resident population) were born abroad. ^[13]

Census	Foreign-born population	Percentage increase over previous decade	Percentage of total population
1951 [4]	2,118,600		4.2
1961 [4]	2,573,500	21.5	4.9
1971 [4]	3,190,300	24.0	5.8
1981 [4]	3,429,100	7.5	6.2
1991 [4]	3,835,400	11.8	6.7
2001 [4]	4,896,600	27.7	8.3
2011 [10]	7,993,480	63.0	12.7
2021

In January 2021, analysis by the Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence suggested that there had been an "unprecedented exodus" of almost 1.3 million foreign-born people from the UK between July 2019 and September 2020, in part due to the burden of job losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic falling disproportionately on foreign-born workers. Interviews conducted by Al Jazeera suggested that Brexit may have been a more significant push factor than the pandemic. ^[14] Subsequent analysis of the impact of the pandemic on population statistics generated by the Labour Force Survey (LFS) suggests that "LFS-based estimates are likely to significantly overstate the change in the non-UK national population". Payroll data shows that the number of EU workers fell by 7 per cent between October–December 2019 and October–December 2020. ^[15]

According to the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford:

The different sources of data on migration and migrants in the UK are not always consistent with each other. For example, from 2017 to 2019, the estimated number of EU-born residents as measured by the Annual Population Survey declined, while the International Passenger Survey (LTIM data) estimated that the net migration of EU citizens was still positive. There are various reasons for this, including differences in how data sources define migrants; known uncertainty in the estimates, which come with margins of error; and unknown sources of error, such as that arising from the fact that not everyone agrees to participate in official surveys. This means that it is often sensible to look at the overall picture across several data sources, rather than focusing on short-term changes in a single dataset. ONS has identified several limitations in current data sources, and is currently developing new approaches to producing migration statistics to address them. This is likely to lead to substantial changes in official migration data between now and 2023. The foreign-born will include some people who are born abroad to UK citizen parents. However, it is usually still the preferred definition when using data on the migrant population, and especially change in the population over time. This is because migrants who acquire UK citizenship are excluded from data on the non-UK citizen population, and rates of naturalisation vary significantly depending on migrants’ country of origin. Moreover, data on non-UK citizens also include many UK-born children of migrants who have themselves never migrated. ^[16]

Population structure

• Population pyramid of the foreign born population of England and Wales (unless otherwise specified)
• 
  1971 (Great Britain)
• 
  1981 (Great Britain)
• 
  1991
• 
  2001
• 
  2011
• 
  2021

Year of arrival

Year of arrival by year grouping of current non-UK born residents in England and Wales in 2021

Year of arrival for non-UK born residents in England and Wales in 2021

Year of arrival into England and Wales ^[17]

Year	Total number	Proportional make up
before 1951	74,538	1%
1951 to 1960	233,840	2%
1961 to 1970	540,232	5%
1971 to 1980	554,640	5%
1981 to 1990	580,298	6%
1991 to 2000	1,089,094	11%
2001 to 2010	2,696,364	27%
2011 to 2013	879,515	8.8%
2014 to 2016	1,255,036	12.5%
2017 to 2019	1,434,823	14.3%
2020 to 2021	679,592	6.8%
2011 to 2021	4,248,966	42%
Total	10,017,972	100%

Countries of origin

The table below lists the places of birth of UK residents according to the 2001 Census, as reported by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. ^[18] The table also lists population estimates of the foreign-born population for the top 60 foreign countries of birth in the period January 2010 to December 2010, published by the Office for National Statistics. ^{[19] [20]}

In 2001, the five most common foreign countries of birth were Ireland, India, Pakistan, Germany and the United States respectively. ^[18] In 2010, the most common foreign countries of birth were India, Poland (up from 18th in 2001), Pakistan, Ireland and Germany, respectively. While those born in Germany constitute one of the UK's largest foreign-born groups, many are British nationals who were born in Germany to British military personnel based there. ^{[21] [22] [20]} The United States dropped to eighth place behind South Africa and Bangladesh, despite growth in the size of the U.S.-born population. ^[19]

The period between 2001 and 2010 saw significant change in the UK's foreign-born population. In particular, the 2004 and 2007 enlargements of the European Union have led to mass migration from Poland, Bulgaria, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia and Lithuania. ^[19] The number of Poland-born people resident in the UK increased from 60,711 in 2001 to an estimated 532,000 in the year to December 2010, whilst the population born in Lithuania increased from 4,363 to an estimated 87,000. ^[19] The most significant decrease in a foreign-born population resident in the UK between 2001 and 2010 is in the number of those originating from Ireland. Whilst 533,901 people born in Ireland were resident in the UK in 2001, this is estimated to have declined to 405,000 by 2010. ^[19]

Country of birth	Population (2001 census) [18]	Population (2015 UN estimate) [23]	Corresponding article(s)
United Kingdom	53,923,642	56,254,898	British people; Cornish people, English people, Manx people, Northern Irish people, Scottish people, Welsh people
India	467,634	776,603	Indians in the United Kingdom
Poland	60,711	703,050	Poles in the United Kingdom
Pakistan	321,167	540,495	Pakistanis in the United Kingdom
Ireland	537,108	503,288	Irish migration to Great Britain
Germany	266,136	322,220	Germans in the United Kingdom
Bangladesh	154,362	230,143	Bangladeshis in the United Kingdom
South Africa	141,405	218,732	South Africans in the United Kingdom
Nigeria	88,378	216,268	Nigerians in the United Kingdom
United States	158,434	212,150	Americans in the United Kingdom
China	51,078	182,628	Chinese in the United Kingdom
Jamaica	146,401	172,829	Jamaicans in the United Kingdom
Italy	107,244	151,790	Italians in the United Kingdom
Kenya	129,633	151,073	Kenyans in the United Kingdom
France	96,281	149,872	French in the United Kingdom
Philippines	40,118	139,570	Filipinos in the United Kingdom
Sri Lanka	67,938	138,752	Sri Lankans in the United Kingdom
Australia	107,871	135,786	Australians in the United Kingdom
Zimbabwe	49,524	132,942	Zimbabweans in the United Kingdom
Hong Kong	96,445	119,990	Hong Kongers in the United Kingdom
Lithuania	4,363	116,861	Lithuanians in the United Kingdom
Somalia	43,532	110,775	Somalis in the United Kingdom
Ghana	56,112	102,837	Ghanaians in the United Kingdom
Turkey	54,079	100,956	Turks in the United Kingdom
Portugal	36,555	98,967	Portuguese in the United Kingdom
Spain	54,482	91,179	Spaniards in the United Kingdom
Iran	42,494	91,087	Iranians in the United Kingdom
Romania	7,631	89,402	Romanians in the United Kingdom
Canada	72,518	86,415	Canadians in the United Kingdom
Cyprus	77,673	84,815	Cypriots in the United Kingdom
Iraq	32,236	80,939	Iraqis in the United Kingdom
Malaysia	49,886	75,182	Malaysians in the United Kingdom
Netherlands	40,438	68,489	Dutch in the United Kingdom
Afghanistan	14,875	68,256	Afghans in the United Kingdom
Slovakia	5,273	67,781	Slovaks in the United Kingdom
New Zealand	58,286	67,276	New Zealanders in the United Kingdom
Latvia	4,275	66,046	Latvians in the United Kingdom
Uganda	55,213	65,447	Ugandans in the United Kingdom
Hungary	13,159	56,166	Hungarians in the United Kingdom
Brazil	15,215	56,055	Brazilians in the United Kingdom
Nepal	5,943	54,695	Nepalis in the United Kingdom
Bulgaria	5,351	51,875	Bulgarians in the United Kingdom
Thailand	16,257	47,389	Thais in the United Kingdom
Singapore	40,474	45,351	Singaporeans in the United Kingdom
Mauritius	27,078	45,123	Mauritians in the United Kingdom
Russia	15,160	42,491	Russians in the United Kingdom
Czech Republic	12,220	41,605	Czechs in the United Kingdom
Japan	37,535	40,127	Japanese in the United Kingdom
Greece	35,169	39,700	Greeks in the United Kingdom
Tanzania	32,630	38,691	Tanzanians in the United Kingdom
Saudi Arabia	8,789	36,148	Saudi Arabians in the United Kingdom
Sweden	22,525	35,055	Swedes in the United Kingdom
Egypt	24,700	33,686	Egyptians in the United Kingdom
Vietnam	23,347	32,429	Vietnamese in the United Kingdom
Malta	30,178	31,758	Maltese in the United Kingdom
Zambia	21,529	30,897	Zambians in the United Kingdom
Belgium	21,668	29,142	Belgians in the United Kingdom
Colombia	12,331	27,691	Colombians in the United Kingdom
Algeria	10,670	26,826	Algerians in the United Kingdom
Trinidad and Tobago	21,283	25,364	Trinidadians in the United Kingdom
Sierra Leone	17,048	25,281	Sierra Leoneans in the United Kingdom
Denmark	18,695	24,972	Danes in the United Kingdom
Morocco	12,348	23,519	Moroccans in the United Kingdom
Guyana	20,872	23,458	Guyanese in the United Kingdom
Ukraine	11,913	23,414	Ukrainians in the United Kingdom
Austria	19,503	21,698	Austrians in the United Kingdom
Switzerland	16,010	21,458
Democratic Republic of the Congo	8,569	20,971	Congolese in the United Kingdom
Barbados	21,601	20,271	Barbadians in the United Kingdom
Sudan	10,671	19,758	Sudanese in the United Kingdom
Israel	11,892	19,608	Israelis in the United Kingdom
Yemen	12,508	19,405	Yemenis in the United Kingdom
Eritrea	6,561	19,031	Eritreans in the United Kingdom
North Korea	22	18,697
Norway	13,798	18,236
Malawi	12,340	17,871
Libya	9,141	17,684
Lebanon	10,459	17,128	Lebanese in the United Kingdom
Ethiopia	7,775	16,654	Ethiopians in the United Kingdom
Angola	5,914	15,712
Albania	2,314	14,688	Albanians in the United Kingdom
Finland	11,322	14,325
Kuwait	5,882	14,054
Burma (or Myanmar)	9,924	13,064
United Arab Emirates	5,406	12,314	Emiratis in the United Kingdom
Gambia	3,924	12,194
Gibraltar	11,830	11,955	Gibraltarians in the United Kingdom
Argentina	6,796	11,339
Cameroon	3,233	11,009
Mexico	5,049	10,502	Mexicans in the United Kingdom
Indonesia	6,711	10,344	Indonesians in the United Kingdom
Grenada	9,783	10,009	Grenadians in the United Kingdom
Syria	4,168	9,950	Syrians in the United Kingdom
Saint Lucia	8,265	9,836
Venezuela	3,996	9,834
Congo	3,266	9,561
Ecuador	3,035	9,422	Ecuadorians in the United Kingdom
Estonia	2,005	9,361
Croatia	6,992	9,029
Serbia	31,244 (including Kosovo)	9,008	Serbs in the United Kingdom
Ivory Coast (Côte d'Ivoire)	2,794	8,535	Ivoirians in the United Kingdom
Bosnia-Herzegovina	6,692	8,469
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	7,091	8,008
Montserrat	7,983	7,828	Montserratians in the United Kingdom
Peru	4,066	7,787	Peruvians in the United Kingdom
Chile	5,131	7,673	Chileans in the United Kingdom
Dominica	6,739	6,851
South Korea	12,310	6,767	British Koreans
Fiji	3,464	6,754	Fijians in the United Kingdom
Tunisia	3,070	6,606
Mozambique	3,353	6,368	Mozambicans in the United Kingdom
Jordan	3,115	6,321
Bahrain	4,185	6,261
Saint Kitts and Nevis	6,519	6,067
Brunei	2,782	5,731
Kazakhstan	871	5,432
Burundi	2,022	4,820
Rwanda	2,373	4,781
Belarus	1,154	4,734	Belarusians in the United Kingdom
Bermuda	2,986	4,602
Bolivia	1,143	4,046	Bolivians in the United Kingdom
Antigua and Barbuda	3,891	3,995	Antiguans in the United Kingdom
Seychelles	2,905	3,878
Liberia	1,583	3,844
Botswana	2,051	3,513
Oman	2,024	3,432
Moldova	455	3,417
Georgia	551	3,388	Georgians in the United Kingdom
North Macedonia	1,285	3,170	Macedonians in the United Kingdom
Azerbaijan	561	3,126	Azerbaijanis in the United Kingdom
Saint Helena	2,355	2,917
Uzbekistan	521	2,864
Qatar	1,062	2,706
Cuba	1,083	2,665
Namibia	1,230	2,649
Guinea-Bissau	381	2,572
Guinea	265	2,529
Slovenia	1,228	2,298
Iceland	1,552	2,225
Senegal	723	2,135
Luxembourg	1,222	2,092
Bahamas	1,797	2,071
East Timor	1	2,008	Timorese in Northern Ireland
Mongolia	293	1,821	Mongolians in the United Kingdom
Armenia	589	1,790	Armenians in the United Kingdom
Togo	553	1,743
Swaziland	863	1,596
Dominican Republic	523	1,485
Uruguay	963	1,472
Belize	1,233	1,452
Cambodia	706	1,304
Cape Verde	N/A	1,279
Papua New Guinea	1,057	1,199
Kyrgyzstan	133	1,132
Madagascar	789	1,121
Guatemala	499	1,049
São Tomé and Príncipe	102	1,028
Falkland Islands	1,044	968
El Salvador	595	948
Cayman Islands	369	914
Lesotho	331	851
Paraguay	493	816
Turkmenistan	99	784
Costa Rica	370	777
Panama	492	769
Laos	464	716
Honduras	420	683
Benin	239	678
Aruba	0	678
Anguilla	498	583
Djibouti	237	486
Suriname	264	476
Bhutan	86	463
Tajikistan	101	455
Monaco	225	430
Mali	121	411
Nicaragua	223	406
Maldives	200	402
Gabon	135	393
Chad	183	371
Solomon Islands	309	364
Haiti	164	340
Equatorial Guinea	51	312
Tonga	143	298
British Virgin Islands	163	292
Burkina Faso	99	237
Samoa	125	233
Mauritania	28	233
Niger	96	217
Kiribati	179	182
Central African Republic	312	171
Vanuatu	135	168
Comoros	62	154
United States Virgin Islands	124	134
Andorra	35	63
Liechtenstein	23	31
Nauru	14	30
Taiwan	6,588	N/A
West Bank (Palestinian territories)	2,483	N/A
Macau	1,490	N/A
Netherlands Antilles	1,151	N/A
Puerto Rico	306	N/A
Guam	61	N/A
Turks and Caicos Islands	56	N/A
Cook Islands	37	N/A
American Samoa	30	N/A
British Indian Ocean Territory	19	N/A
Tuvalu	10	N/A
San Marino	9	N/A
Norfolk Island	4	N/A
Micronesia, Federated States of	3	N/A
Niue	3	N/A
Pitcairn Islands	3	N/A
Palau	3	N/A
Cocos (Keeling) Islands	0	N/A
Northern Mariana Islands	0	N/A
Tokelau	0	N/A
Vatican City	0	N/A

Institute for Public Policy Research analysis

In 2005 the Institute for Public Policy Research published an analysis of data from the 2001 Census, revealing the number of people included in the census who were born outside the British Isles, where they lived, and comparing this information against the 1991 Census. ^[22] The results were made available on the BBC website. ^[24] Note that this data refers to Great Britain only, rather than the whole of the UK, because of the lack of digital boundaries in the census data for Northern Ireland. ^[22]

See also

• Modern immigration to the United Kingdom
• MigrationWatch UK

References

1. "Migrants in the UK: An Overview". Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford. Retrieved 24 July 2020.
2. "Table 1.3: Overseas-born population in the United Kingdom, excluding some residents in communal establishments, by sex, by country of birth, January 2017 to December 2017". Office for National Statistics. 24 May 2018. Retrieved 10 June 2018. Figure given is the central estimate. See the source for 95% confidence intervals .
3. "Foreign-born: 1 in 12 in UK born overseas". Office for National Statistics. 15 December 2005. Archived from the original on 15 February 2006. Retrieved 16 February 2009.
4. Rendall, Michael; Salt, John (2005). "The foreign-born population". In Office for National Statistics (ed.). Focus on People and Migration: 2005 edition (PDF). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 131–152. ISBN   1-4039-9327-0. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 July 2014.
5. Muenz, Rainer (June 2006). "Europe: Population and migration in 2005". Migration Policy Institute. Archived from the original on 9 June 2008. Retrieved 14 December 2009.
6. Krausova, Anna; Vargas-Silva, Carlos (19 August 2014). "England: Census Profile". Migration Observatory, University of Oxford. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
7. Krausova, Anna; Vargas-Silva, Carlos (4 March 2014). "Wales: Census Profile". Migration Observatory, University of Oxford. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
8. Krausova, Anna; Vargas-Silva, Carlos (3 December 2013). "Scotland: Census Profile". Migration Observatory, University of Oxford. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
9. Krausova, Anna; Vargas-Silva, Carlos (26 June 2014). "Northern Ireland: Census Profile". Migration Observatory, University of Oxford. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
10. "Migration in Great Britain: Census factsheet" (XLS). Migration Observatory, University of Oxford. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
11. "Table 13a: Foreign-born population by continent/country of birth, age and sex - Both sexes" (XLS). Office for National Statistics. 21 January 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2016.
12. Vasileva, Katya (7 July 2011). "Population and social conditions: 6.5% of the EU population are foreigners and 9.4% are born abroad" (PDF). Statistics in Focus (34). Eurostat. ISSN   1977-0316. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 January 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
13. "Migrants in the UK: An Overview". Migration Observatory. 4 October 2019. Retrieved 22 November 2019.
14. Child, David (15 January 2021). "'Unprecedented exodus': Why are migrant workers leaving the UK?". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
15. Freeman, David (23 March 2021). "Coronavirus and the impact on payroll employment: experimental analysis". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
16. Vargas-Silva, Carlos; Walsh, Peter William (2 October 2020). "EU Migration to and from the UK". The Migration Observatory. Retrieved 15 August 2021.
17. "International migration, England and Wales". Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
18. "Country-of-birth database". Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Archived from the original (XLS) on 17 June 2009. Retrieved 21 September 2008.
19. "Table 1.3: Estimated population resident in the United Kingdom, by foreign country of birth, January 2010 to December 2010". Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original (XLS) on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 4 September 2010.
20. Ellis, Amy (2009). "UK resident population by country of birth". Population Trends. 135 (135): 20–28. doi: 10.1057/pt.2009.5 . PMID   19391440. S2CID   11882683.
21. "Born abroad: Germany". BBC News. 7 September 2005. Retrieved 4 October 2009.
22. Kyambi, Sarah (2005). Beyond Black and White: Mapping new immigrant communities. London: Institute for Public Policy Research. ISBN   1-86030-284-X.
23. "Trends in International Migrant Stock: Migrants by Destination and Origin (United Nations database, POP/DB/MIG/Stock/Rev.2015)" (XLS). United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs. 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
24. "Introduction and figures for Britain". Born Abroad: An immigration map of Britain. BBC News. 7 September 2005. Retrieved 16 February 2009.

External links

• Beyond Black and White: Mapping new immigrant communities
• Born Abroad: An immigration map of Britain