INTERESTING FACTS AND FIGURES FROM THE UK

Immigration to the UK: facts and figures

Allegra Stratton guardian.co.uk,
Tuesday April 1 2008

Overview: Net immigration has added 1.5 million people to the population over the last 10 years. Two-thirds of them have come from the continents of Asia and Africa. In 2006 the total UK population was 60.6m. If net immigration continues at its current rate, as the government actuary's department calculates, the total population in 2031 will be 70m, and by 2081 it will be 85m.

The numbers: People born overseas account for about 10% of the population. This is up from just more than 6% in 1981 and just over 8% in 2001. This is compared with 24% in Australia, 23% in Switzerland, 19% in Canada and 13% in America. In France that figure is 8%, and 7% in Denmark.

The people: In 2006 the largest numbers of immigrants were born in Africa and the Middle East (3% of the working age population) and the Indian sub-continent (2.5%). Those born in the east and central European EU member states – the A8 - made up 1% of the working age population. Today A8 immigrants account for one in three of new immigrants since 2004.

Where do immigrants live and work: In the last three years, East Anglia had the greatest number of A8 workers registering with employers in the area (15% of the total), followed by the Midlands (13%) and London (12%). A8 immigrants are more concentrated in low-skilled jobs, with only 13% in high-skilled occupations. Overall, there are more foreign-born than UK-born workers in highly skilled jobs (49% vs 42%).

The three most popular sectors for all foreign-born workers in the UK are public administration, education and health (32%), distribution, hotels and restaurants (21%) and banking, finance and insurance (20%). Immigrants are concentrated at the high and low skill end of the occupation distribution.

How easy is it to find work? The employment rate of A8 immigrants is more than 80%, while that of immigrants born in Bangladesh is only around 50%. When employed, the average immigrant worker worked one and a half hours a week more in 2006 than the average individual born in the UK. The average hourly wage of all immigrants in that year was £11.90 compared with £11.50 for UK-born workers. The earnings gap is partly explained by the fact that immigrants are more likely than UK-born persons to live in London where hourly rates are higher than in the rest of the UK.

How educated? Among new immigrants (those arrived up to two years ago), the proportion of persons with degrees is particularly high (46%) and the proportion of persons with only secondary schooling particularly low (48%), compared to the UK-born population. Two-thirds of the UK-born population has only completed secondary school while 17% have a degree, Labour Force Survey data suggest. But 51% of all migrants have secondary school qualifications and 37% have degrees.