Romania provides largest inflow of immigrants to the UK in 2016

The largest inflow of immigrants to the UK in 2016 came from Romania. Approximately 50,000 Romanians settled to the UK in 2016, down from 54,000 in 2015, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Romania is followed by China, India, France and Poland as countries providing significant inflows of immigrants.

Last year, 413,000 Romanian and Bulgarians were residing in the UK. The majority (79%) of these were Romanian.

Overall, Romanian and Bulgarian citizens made up approximately 11% of all EU citizens in employment in the UK between 2014 and 2016. Many of them are employed in construction, distribution, hotels and restaurants industries.

Of the Romanian citizens of working age and resident in the UK, approximately 77% were employed, 5% were unemployed, 5% were inactive due to study, and 13% were otherwise economically inactive. One in four Romanian and one in five Bulgarian citizens work in the construction industry, statistics show. The construction industry can include building work, civil engineering, and plumbing or electrical work.

Of the Romanian citizens in employment in the UK, 14% work in the banking and finance industry, slightly lower compared to the 18% of the Bulgarian citizens working in the industry. Approximately 23% of the Romanian citizens and 20% of Bulgarian citizens work in the distribution, hotels and restaurants industry.

As such, a total of 22,100 Romanians was working between 2014 and 2016 in public admin, education and health, 21,800 in banking and finance, 17,000 in transport and communication, 37,000 in distribution, hotels, and restaurants, 37,800 in construction, 13,100 in manufacturing, 1,500 in the energy and water sectors, and 2,200 in agriculture, forestry and fishing, according to data from the ONS and the Annual Population Survey.

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