5. Why do people move to the UK?

Figure 6: Long-Term International Migration estimates of immigration to the UK, by main reason for migration, 2007 to 2016 (year ending December 2016) Source: Office for National Statistics, Long-Term International Migration Notes: Figures for 2016 are provisional. In this chart provisional estimates are shown in a shaded area. Rolling year data are produced quarterly and are for year ending (YE) March (q1), YE June (q2), YE September (q3) and YE December (q4). Up to YE December 2009, estimates are only available annually. Accompany / Join means accompanying or joining others. Download this chart Figure 6: Long-Term International Migration estimates of immigration to the UK, by main reason for migration, 2007 to 2016 (year ending December 2016) Image .csv .xls

International Passenger Survey (IPS) data show that, of those whose main reason for long-term migration was work-related, the majority (61%) were EU citizens, whereas of those whose main reason for migration was study, the majority (70%) were non-EU citizens. The difference in reason for immigration is likely to reflect the differing rights of EU and non-EU citizens to migrate to the UK as well as the impact of government policies and other factors (such as economic conditions in origin countries).

Work remains the most commonly stated reason for immigration to the UK

In 2016, 275,000 (47%) people immigrated for work, compared with 308,000 in 2015 (Figure 6). This difference was not statistically significant. However, this is the lowest recorded estimate since YE September 2014.

The majority of those arriving to work, 180,000 (65%) had a definite job to go to, similar to the 178,000 in 2015. The number arriving looking for work had a statistically significant decrease of 35,000 to 95,000 compared with 130,000 in 2015.

IPS data showed that the decrease in the number of people arriving looking for work was driven by EU citizens. Estimates showed a statistically significant decrease from 77,000 in 2015 to 55,000 in 2016. Half of this decrease was due to the numbers of EU8 citizens falling from 27,000 to 16,000 in 2016 (a statistically significant decrease).

Of EU immigrants arriving for work-related reasons (160,000), 34% arrived looking for work in 2016 compared with 44% in 2015; in 2016 within each EU citizenship group the percentages were: EU15: 28%, EU8: 44%, EU2: 36%. The number and proportion arriving looking for work for all main citizenship groups fell in 2016, the number for those with a definite job largely remained steady (Figure 7).

IPS estimates show around 61% of immigrants arriving for work were EU citizens, 25% were non-EU citizens and 14% were British citizens.

Of the 66,000 non-EU immigrants who arrived for work-related reasons, 18,000 (27%) arrived looking for work and these are likely to be accounted for by people granted visas for the Youth Mobility Scheme.

An estimated 36,000 British citizens arrived for work reasons. Of these almost half (17,000) arrived looking for work.

Figure 7: IPS estimates of immigration to the UK for work-related reasons by citizenship, year ending December 2013 to year ending December 2016 Source: Office for National Statistics, International Passenger Survey Notes: Figures for 2016 are provisional. In this chart provisional estimates are represented by a break in the series. Rolling year data are produced quarterly and are for year ending (YE) March (q1), YE June (q2), YE September (q3) and YE December (q4). Peaks are shown with the appropriate YE data. Note that the EU total given in published tables and the text of this report includes Malta, Cyprus and Croatia, so will be slightly different from the total of the three EU charts shown in Figure 7. Figures may not sum due to rounding. Download this image Figure 7: IPS estimates of immigration to the UK for work-related reasons by citizenship, year ending December 2013 to year ending December 2016 .png .xls

More detailed estimates over time can be found for LTIM in Table 2 and for IPS in Table 3 in the accompanying datasets.

Work-related visas (non-European Economic Area nationals)

In the YE March 2017, the number of sponsored skilled work (Tier 2) visas, including dependants, rose by 2% to 94,000. Tier 5 youth mobility and temporary visas were 4% lower at 42,000. In all work categories there were 164,168 work-related visas (including dependants) granted in the YE March 2017, broadly the same level as previously.

Table 3: Work-related visa grants by category, year ending March 2016 and year ending March 2017 UK Type of visa granted Year ending March 2016 Year ending March 2017 Difference % change to previous year Total work-related visas 163,783 164,168 385 0% Tier 1 visas 4,771 4,677 -94 -2% Tier 2 (skilled) visas 91,797 93,566 1,769 2% Tier 5 (youth mobility and temporary) visas 43,574 41,798 -1,776 -4% Non-PBS/Other work visas 23,641 24,127 486 2% Source: Home Office Notes: 1. Figures include dependants. 2. PBS is "points-based system". Download this table Table 3: Work-related visa grants by category, year ending March 2016 and year ending March 2017 .xls

Indian nationals accounted for 58% of total skilled work visas granted (53,863 of 93,566), with USA nationals the next largest nationality (9,255 or 10% of the total). The information technology sector sponsored 42% of skilled work visa applications, followed by professional, scientific and technical activities (18%) and financial and insurance activities (12%).

Home Office Immigration Statistics show that IPS long-term immigration estimates for work and formal study among non-EU nationals have broadly followed the same long-term trends as visas granted for work and study. IPS estimates will be lower than the visa figures because the IPS estimates exclude those individuals who state that they intend to stay for less than 1 year and there will be other differences in categorisation. Furthermore, the dependants of those granted a visa to work or study are included in the work and study visa figures, whereas the reason for migration for such individuals, in most cases, are likely to be recorded as accompanying or joining others by the IPS. Other differences may be due to sampling variation in the IPS and other potential sources of bias in IPS data. For more information see the Home Office Immigration Statistics: user guide.

How many adult overseas nationals register for a National Insurance number (NINo)?

National Insurance number (NINo) allocations to adult overseas nationals and nationality at point of NINo registration of DWP working age benefit recipients (NINo benefit claimants) have had their National Statistics status suspended until work to improve their limited supporting guidance and overall public value is undertaken. The full assessment can be found on the UK Statistics Authority website: report on the reassessment of the NINo statistics.

NINo registrations and IPS estimates should not be directly compared. NINo figures include short-term migrants and the figures are based on the recorded registration date on the National Insurance Recording and Pay As You Earn System (NPS) (after the NINo application process has been completed) and so should not be used as a direct measure of when a person migrated to the UK. As such, there will be differences between the NINo registration data shown in Table 4, and the estimates of long-term international migration. More detailed information on these differences is discussed in the publication from 12 May 2016.

In YE March 2017, there were 593,000 National Insurance number (NINo) registrations by EU nationals (down 6% on the previous year) and 191,000 by non-EU nationals (down 2% on the previous year).

Table 4: National Insurance number registrations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK, year ending March 2017 (these data are not designated National Statistics) UK, thousands World area YE Mar 2016 total YE Mar 2017 total Difference % change to previous year Total 826 786 -41 -5% European Union 630 593 -37 -6% (of which) EU15 228 221 -6 -3% (of which) EU8 180 145 -35 -19% (of which) EU2 219 224 5 2% Non-European Union 195 191 -4 -2% Source: Department for Work and Pensions. Notes: 1. The figures are based on recorded registration date on the National Insurance Recording and Pay As You Earn System, ie after the NINo application process has been completed, and are not a direct measure of when a person migrated to the UK. 2. The number of new registrations of NINos to non-UK nationals over a given period is not the same as the total number of non-UK nationals who hold a NINo. 3. The total number of non-UK nationals who have been allocated a NINo is not the same as the number of non-UK nationals working in the UK. This is because people who have been allocated NINos may subsequently have left the UK, or they may still be in the UK but have ceased to be in employment. 4. Some people arriving into the UK may already hold a NINo from a previous stay in the UK. Once a person has been allocated a NINo, they do not need to reapply in order to work in the UK. 5. There are a small number of cases where the nationality of an individual is not recorded on the source system - therefore the sum of world areas may differ from the total. 6. Differences may vary from calculations derived from the totals due to rounding. Download this table Table 4: National Insurance number registrations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK, year ending March 2017 (these data are not designated National Statistics) .xls

Figure 8: National Insurance number registrations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK from the EU and non-EU 2007 to year ending March 2017 (these data are not designated National Statistics) Source: Department for Work and Pensions, National Insurance number registrations to adult overseas nationals Notes: The figures are based on recorded registration date on the National Insurance Recording and Pay As You Earn System (NPS), ie after the National Insurance number (NINo) application process has been completed, and are not a direct measure of when a person migrated to the UK. Although figures do accurately reflect the number of NINos registered over time, a change to the process of recording NINos during Quarter 2 (Apr to June) 2014 means that the volume of NINo registrations recorded were lower in that quarter and then higher in Quarter 3 (July to Sep) 2014 than would otherwise be the case. Comparisons of NINo registrations over time between these periods should be viewed with caution. Download this chart Figure 8: National Insurance number registrations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK from the EU and non-EU Image .csv .xls

As with the LTIM estimates, NINo registration numbers reflect the rise in EU immigration between 2012 and 2015. The sharp rise in registrations to EU2 nationals in 2014 to some extent mirrors the long-term migration trend over an extended period. However, in the last year, the growth in EU2 registrations has been offset by a fall in registrations from other EU member states.

Table 5 shows the top registrations for individual EU and non-EU nationalities.

Table 5: Top five EU and non-EU country of nationality for National Insurance number (NINo) registrations, year ending March 2017 (these data are not designated National Statistics) UK, thousands EU country of nationality NINo registrations Non-EU country of nationality NINo registrations Romania 182 India 35 Poland 84 Australia 12 Italy 62 Pakistan 12 Spain 44 China 12 Bulgaria 42 United States 10 Source: Department for Work and Pensions Download this table Table 5: Top five EU and non-EU country of nationality for National Insurance number (NINo) registrations, year ending March 2017 (these data are not designated National Statistics) .xls

How many overseas nationals are working in the UK?

Labour market statistics are a measure of the stock of people working in the UK and are not designed to provide a measure of migration flows. As a result, changes in the labour market stock cannot be directly compared with long-term net migration.

Of the total in employment in January to March 2017, 88.9% were British nationals, 7.3% were EU nationals and 3.9% non-EU nationals. These compare with 89.4%, 6.8% and 3.8% respectively, in January to March 2016, showing a small proportional difference.

There have been increases for all nationality groupings in employment in January to March 2017, compared with the same quarter for the previous year (Table 6).

Table 6: Change in employment, January to March 2017, UK UK, thousands Nationality grouping Total in employment, Jan to Mar 2016 Total in employment, Jan to Mar 2017 Difference % Change to previous year Total 31,482 31,866 385 1.2% British 28,134 28,313 179 0.6% Non-UK 3,343 3,550 207 6.2% Non-EU 1,195 1,230 35 2.9% EU 2,148 2,319 171 8.0% EU15 941 1,001 59 6.3% EU8 963 1,008 46 4.7% EU2 227 297 70 30.7% Source: Office for National Statistics Notes: 1. Figures may not sum due to rounding. Download this table Table 6: Change in employment, January to March 2017, UK .xls

The growth in overall employment over the last year was 385,000. Of this, 46% can be accounted for by growth in employment for British nationals, 45% by growth in employment for EU nationals with the remaining 9% accounted for by non-EU nationals.

Note that these growth figures relate to net changes in the number of people in employment. They do not indicate the proportion of new jobs that have been filled by UK and non-UK workers.

Immigration for study

The Long-Term International Migration (LTIM) estimate for immigration to study was 136,000 in 2016 (23% of total LTIM) and saw a statistically significant decrease of 32,000 from 2015, this largely reflects a decrease reported last quarter.

Home Office visa data provide additional detail for non-EU migrant students1. In YE December 2016 the number of visas issued to non-EU students for 12 months or more was 141,248, a rise of 3%.

There is a notable difference between the long-term International Passenger Survey (IPS) figures for immigration to study and long-term student visa data for 2016. There are a range of potential reasons why the data sources differ such as: timing, stated intentions and length of stay, sampling variability in the survey and if a visa was used or not. Further comparison of the IPS and Visa data is described in section 6 ”Comparability of data sources on student migration” of the ONS publication International student migration what do the statistics tell us? and the Home Office Immigration Statistics: user guide.

Long-term international student migration has a marked seasonal pattern with a large proportion of people immigrating to study in the July to September quarter of the year, particularly for those who will start the academic year in September. Changes in immigration for study are more likely to be first seen in the YE September reporting year as reported in the February Migration Statistics Quarterly Report (MSQR). It is too early to tell if the 2016 IPS student estimate is an indication of an emerging trend as it is based on only two quarters’ of the latest academic year data and we are aware of the increase seen in the number of study visas issued to non-EU citizens. We will continue to monitor the trends and compare against other sources such as university admissions data. The current analysis being undertaken by ONS and the Home Office will also help to understand such differences – International migration data and analysis: Improving the evidence.

IPS estimates show 70% of those immigrating to study for more than 12 months were non-EU citizens, 24% were EU citizens and the remaining 5% were British citizens. In 2016 the estimate of non-British citizens immigrating to the UK to study for 12 months or more was 124,000, a statistically significant decrease of 24,000 from 148,000 the previous year. In the IPS this was driven by citizens of Asian countries who made up 52% (64,000) of non-British citizens immigrating to study, a statistically significant decrease of 16,000 from 80,000 in 2015.

In the YE March 2017, total sponsored visa applications to study from non-EU nationals (main applicants only) rose by 2% to 202,0422. This included a rise in visa applications to study for higher education (to 168,591, up 3%); within this total, applications from Russell Group universities rose by 7%. There was also a rise for English language schools (to 2,955; up 11%) but falls for:

further education sector and other educational institutions (to 14,534, down 6%)

independent schools (to 13,379, down 1%)

Table 7 shows that more than one-third of non-EU study visas were granted to Chinese students (up by 7,000 or 10% compared to a year earlier), and together the 3 largest nationalities made up around a half of the non-EU foreign students granted visas in the year ending March 2017.

Table 7: Top five nationalities for study, year ending March 2017 (main applicants) UK Country of nationality Study visa granted % of total Total 208,906 100% China 77,290 37% United States 14,268 7% India 11,642 6% Hong Kong 9,041 4% Saudi Arabia 8,494 4% Other non-EEA nationalities 88,171 42% Source: Home Office. Download this table Table 7: Top five nationalities for study, year ending March 2017 (main applicants) .xls

More detailed estimates over time can be found for LTIM in Table 2 and for IPS in Table 3 in the accompanying datasets.

For more information on immigration to the UK for study visas, see the Home Office Immigration Statistics.

Immigration to accompany or join others

The third most common reason for migrating to the UK is to accompany or join others. This category can include people who are arriving to marry a UK resident as well as people coming as a family member of another migrant coming for other reasons, such as to work3. In 2016, of all long-term immigrants, 14% (85,000) arrived in the UK to accompany or join others (Figure 6), the highest figure since 2014.

IPS data show a statistically significant increase in the estimates to accompany or join others for non-British citizens from 61,000 in 2015 to 77,000 in 2016.

Home Office entry clearance visa statistics show that the combined total number of family-related visas granted, including European Economic Area (EEA) family permits granted, and visas granted to dependants of other visa holders (excluding visitors) increased by 2,267 (2%) to 136,787 in the year ending March 2017. Note these figures include both long-term and short-term migrants and are therefore not directly comparable to the IPS.

Further information on visas granted for family reasons is in the Home Office Immigration Statistics.

Immigration for other reasons

The number of immigrants arriving in the UK for other reasons, increased from 53,000 to 59,000 in 2016, this was not a statistically significant change. This includes asylum seekers (as measured by Home Office data), volunteers, religious pilgrims and those coming for medical treatment. From 2015 the LTIM adjustments additionally include the number of people resettled in the UK under the various resettlement schemes, as reported by the Home Office.

Asylum and resettlement

There were 36,846 asylum applications (including dependants) in YE March 2017, a decrease from YE March 2016 (down 5,472 or 13%).

The number of applications is considerably below the peak in 2002 (103,081) and the UK received the fifth-highest number of asylum applications of the 28 EU member states in YE March 2017.

A total of 9,634 people were granted asylum or an alternative form of protection in YE March 2017, an overall grant rate of 32% at initial decision. In addition, 5,453 people were granted humanitarian protection under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme in YE March 2017 (7,307 since the scheme began in January 2014).

Table 8 shows the five nationalities with the highest number of applications for asylum to the UK in YE March 2017.

Table 8: Nationalities with highest number of asylum applications, UK, year ending March 2017 UK Country of nationality Asylum applications Change since last year Proportion granted (at initial decision) 1 Iran 3,929 -899 40% 2 Pakistan 3,561 -28 15% 3 Iraq 3,478 73 13% 4 Afghanistan 2,851 -323 34% 5 Bangladesh 2,212 547 5% Source: Home Office. Note: Figures include dependants Download this table Table 8: Nationalities with highest number of asylum applications, UK, year ending March 2017 .xls

There were 1,269 asylum applications from Syrian nationals (including dependants) in YE March 2017, the tenth most common nationality amongst asylum applicants and a decrease of 54% compared with the previous year (2,731). There were 1,507 grants of asylum or an alternative form of protection (including dependants) to those giving Syrian as their nationality in YE March 2017, a grant rate of 85% at initial decision, in addition to the 5,453 granted humanitarian protection under the Syrian Vulnerable Persons Resettlement Scheme.

Further detail is provided in Home Office Immigration Statistics.

Settlement in the UK

There were 57,111 people granted permission to stay permanently in YE March 2017, 28% fewer than the previous year. The majority of the decrease was accounted for by falls in work grants (-17,634). These decreases are likely in part to reflect changes in the Immigration Rules.

For more information on settlement in the UK, see the Home Office Immigration Statistics.

Notes for: Why do people move to the UK?