This Is What's Driving Surge In People Coming To The UK

Net migration has hit a new record high, driven by workers from outside the EU moving to the UK, new figures show

- LIZZIE DEARDEN, HOLLY BANCROFT

The surge in numbers to 606,000 in 2022 has been driven in part by the effect, in the short term, of government-run humanitarian schemes for people fleeing Ukraine, Afghanistan and Hong Kong, while the number of small-boat crossings in the English Channel has continued to rise.

Suella Braverman has targeted international students with a controversial crackdown on their right to bring family members to Britain while they study, but the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said most students leave when their courses end.

Meanwhile, there is pressure on the government from several industry groups to loosen migration requirements in order to fill labour shortages affecting agriculture, logistics, hospitality and other sectors.

So what are the figures behind the new record?

Net migration

Jay Lindop, director of the ONS’s Centre for International Migration, said: “A series of unprecedented world events throughout 2022, and the lifting of restrictions following the coronavirus pandemic, led to record levels of international immigration to the UK.

The main drivers of the increase were people coming to the UK from non-EU countries for work, study, and humanitarian purposes, including those arriving from Ukraine and Hong Kong.”