The number of EU citizens moving to this country for jobs has halved since the Brexit referendum despite continuing levels of high overall net migration, official figures revealed today.
The Office for National Statistics said that 226,000 more people arrived in the UK than departed during the 12 month period ending in March this year.
That meant that, despite being lower than the record tally of 343,000 recorded in 2015, it was in keeping with trends since the vote to leave the EU.
But one noticeable trend was a decline in the number of Europeans coming to work. Only 92,000 EU citizens came for jobs during the year covered by today’s figures — roughly half the peak total of 190,000 recorded in June 2016 when the Brexit vote took place.
That finding will heighten employers’ concerns about the declining inward flow of new workers from Europe at a time when employment levels continue at record levels. The figures do show, however, that net migration from Europe into Britain is still positive, with 59,000 more Europeans moving here than departing in the latest period.
Net migration from outside Europe is even higher, at 219,000, although most of these arrivals were coming for reasons other than work, such as to study.
Unveiling the figures for the ONS, statistician Jay Lindop said that international migration was continuing “to add to the UK population” but that “EU immigration is falling”.
Meanwhile, separate figures today show that more than 340,000 EU citizens in London have applied for permanent status under the Home Office’s EU settlement scheme, representing about a third of the estimated living here.
