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UK immigration latest: EU net migration falls over past year as Brexit uncertainty continues UK immigration latest: EU net migration falls over past year as Brexit uncertainty continues
(35 minutes later)
EU net migration is falling as more European citizens leave the UK and fewer arrive in the wake of Brexit, new statistics show. EU net migration is falling as more European citizens leave the UK and fewer arrive in the wake of the vote for Brexit, new statistics show.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said overall net migration in the year to September was 244,000 – a similar level to early 2014 and down on record levels in the next two years.
The number of European citizens arriving has plummeted since the EU referendum, while the number of people from outside the bloc has increased.
“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,” said Nicola White, head of international migration statistics at the ONS.
“Brexit could well be a factor in people's decision to move to or from the UK, but people’s decision to migrate is complicated and can be influenced by lots of different reasons.”
Almost a quarter of a million people arrived in the UK to work in the period 2017, with the number of EU citizens falling by 58,000.
Most of the Europeans arriving had a definite job lined up, while a smaller proportion were looking for work.
The biggest nationality starting work in the year to September, according to National Insurance number registration data, was Romanian, followed by Polish, Italian, Bulgarian, Spanish and Indian - who accounted for over half of all skilled work visas granted.
The ONS said that the overall employment rate for EU nationals was 81.2 per cent, followed by Brits at 75.6 per cent and non-EU nationals on 63.2 per cent.
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