Non-EU migrants boost net migration as Britain sees drop in EU arrivals

244,000 more people entered the UK in the twelve months leading to 30 September than those leaving, despite falling numbers of net EU migration in the wake of Britain's decision to leave the Union.

The latest headline estimates from the Office of National Statistics came in at a similar level to those of the previous quarter, but even though EU net migration had fallen from the record levels observed during 2015 and 2016, the volume of Europeans entering the UK was still higher than the number of those leaving.

Nicola White, ONS Head of International Migration Statistics, said, "Today's figures show that 244,000 more people are coming to the UK than leaving so net migration is adding to the UK population and is at a similar level to early 2014."

"Looking at the underlying numbers we can see that EU net migration has fallen as fewer EU citizens are arriving, especially those coming to look for work in the UK, and the number leaving has risen. It has now returned to the level seen in 2012," she continued.

The number of EU citizens coming to the UK for work-related reasons fell by 45,000 to 248,000 during the period, in particular among those coming to the UK "looking for work"; however, non-EU net migration increased over the year, with 185,000 National Insurance number applications from non-EU citizens.

Tim Thomas, director of employment and skills policy at the EEF, said the ONS data confirmed what many businesses "already know" – that steep falls in the amount of EU nationals looking to the UK for job prospects had continued, with certain nationalities, such as France and Germany, hitting historic lows throughout the period.

"The UK government needs to shout, loudly, and in the direction of the EU that their citizens are needed, welcome and will enjoy long-term security by coming to the UK to work, study and settle. Without this, more will see the UK as a destination of risk, not choice," Thomas said.

At the same time, in 2016 the UK had seen a decrease in the number of non-EU citizens arriving to study, however, the most comparable student visa data from the Home Office, and the latest ONS estimate of non-EU citizens arriving to study, indicated a return to the level before the previous year's decrease with 113,000 non-EU students entering the UK to study, 26,000 more than in the previous year.

"The figures also show that non-EU net migration is now larger than EU net migration, mainly due to the large decrease in EU net migration over the last year. However, migration of both non-EU and EU citizens are still adding to the UK population," White added.

In 2017, the UK granted asylum, alternative forms of protection or resettlement to almost 15,000 individuals, 40% of who were under 18 years of age.