Migrants in the UK: An Overview

This briefing provides an overview of the number, population share, geographic distribution and citizenship of migrants in the UK.

Key points

Between 1993 and 2011 the foreign-born population in the UK almost doubled from 3.8 million to around 7.0 million. During the same period, the number of foreign citizens increased from nearly 2 million to 4.5 million.
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London has the greatest number of migrants (2.6 million foreign-born people in 2011) among all regions with comparable data in the UK.
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In 2011, the UK population was 12.3% foreign-born (up from 7% in 1993) and 8% foreign citizens (up from 4% in 1993).
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Foreign-born people constituted 42% of Inner London’s population in 2011(the highest share among all regions with comparable data).
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India is the most common country of birth among the foreign-born, but Poland tops the list of foreign citizens in the UK.
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Understanding the evidence

This briefing defines the migrant population as the foreign-born population in the UK. Wherever relevant and indicated, the briefing also provides figures for foreign citizens residing in the UK, as well as for recent migrants – defined as foreign-born people who have been living in the UK for five years or less. Definitions have a significant impact on the analysis of the number of migrants in the UK (see our briefing "Who Counts as a Migrant: Definitions and their Consequences").

The briefing includes all migrants, irrespective of their age and employment status. All data in this briefing are taken from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) using the fourth quarter of each year.

The stock of the migrant population almost doubled from 1993 to 2011

The size of the foreign-born population in the UK increased from about 3.8 million in 1993 to over 7.0 million in 2011 (see Figure 1). During the same period the number of foreign citizens increased from nearly 2 million to 4.5 million.

The number of foreign-born people in the UK increased in almost every year, although there were slight decreases in 1996, 2007 and 2010 (fourth quarter data). Over the whole time period analysed (1993 to 2011) the highest growth in the foreign-born population occurred between 2005 and 2006, with the stock of migrants increasing by about 15%. This period coincides with the significant inflow of East European migrants following EU enlargement in 2004.

Although the numbers of both female and male migrants have increased over time, women have constituted the majority of the UK’s migrant population stock since at least 1993. In 2011, 54% of the foreign-born population were women.

Figure 1

London has the largest number of migrants among all regions of the UK

Figure 2 presents the distribution of the foreign-born population across England’s government office regions (GORs), Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales. There is significant variation in the geographic distribution of migrants in the UK. In 2011, about half of the UK’s foreign-born population were in London (37%) and the South East (13%). Northern Ireland, the North East and Wales have a low share of the UK’s total foreign-born population, 1.5%, 1.5% and 2.3% respectively. In comparison, the UK-born population is more evenly distributed. In 2011, only 9.3% of the whole UK-born population lived in London.

Figure 2

Table 1 shows the number of foreign-born people in different UK regions over time. The LFS provides information at the regional level for 20 regions (see Table 1), as defined by the UK Office for National Statistics.

In 2011 about 1.2 million foreign-born people were living in Inner London and nearly 1.4 million were living in Outer London. The smallest number of foreign-born individuals was found in the ‘Rest of North East’ region of England. The largest percentage increases during the 1995 and 2011 periods occurred in Tyne and Wear, ‘Rest of Scotland’ and Merseyside. This is not surprising given the small number of migrants these regions had in 1995. Between 1995 and 2011 ‘Rest of West Midlands’ experienced the lowest percentage increase in the number of migrants (up 47%).

Table 1 - Number of foreign-born by region

Region	1995	2000	2005	2009	2011	1995-2011 % change
Tyne and Wear	24,422	30,838	49,640	70,870	59,608	144%
Rest of North East	29,469	33,399	37,765	57,955	44,577	51%
Greater Manchester	165,990	141,808	215,707	296,982	288,874	74%
Merseyside	34,696	30,025	61,184	55,401	73,659	112%
Rest of North West	102,607	104,538	134,609	165,536	153,091	49%
South Yorkshire	49,156	37,228	63,364	85,717	83,935	71%
West Yorkshire	140,064	153,822	196,834	209,174	218,814	56%
Rest of Yorkshire & Humberside	56,247	44,805	63,766	97,269	91,887	63%
East Midlands	202,744	193,857	286,317	365,375	391,071	93%
West Midlands Metropolitan County	261,892	285,397	325,933	392,264	414,955	58%
Rest of West Midlands	94,405	85,792	93,760	155,675	139,028	47%
East of England	308,707	346,073	457,406	568,777	562,442	82%
Inner London	815,991	963,874	1,186,956	1,165,098	1,217,161	49%
Outer London	827,593	1,021,995	1,158,511	1,451,702	1,389,878	68%
South East	513,862	597,303	720,505	903,033	907,073	77%
South West	210,170	214,237	276,352	342,533	367,694	75%
Wales	80,399	84,034	107,396	136,792	159,067	98%
Strathclyde	59,781	65,494	87,147	123,121	118,409	98%
Rest of Scotland	97,460	109,905	141,258	207,845	226,924	133%
Northern Ireland	53,083	80,925	70,376	101,051	101,968	92%
Total	4,128,738	4,625,349	5,734,786	6,952,170	7,010,115	70%

Source: Labour Force Survey, Quarter 4

The UK population was 12.3% foreign-born and 8% foreign citizen in 2011

The share of foreign-born people in the UK’s total population increased by over 50% between 1993 and 2011, i.e. from 7 to nearly 12.3% (see Figure 3). During the same period, the share of foreign citizens rose from 3.6 to 8%, while that of recent migrants increased from 1.4 to 3.5%.

Figure 3

The share of migrants in the population varies significantly across regions but has been increasing in all regions over time

The share of migrants in the population varies significantly across regions (see Figure 4). In 2011 the number of foreign-born people relative to total population was greatest in Inner London (42%) and Outer London (32%). The region with the third highest proportion of migrants was West Midlands Metropolitan County where 17% of the population was foreign-born. ‘Rest of North East’ and “Rest of West Midlands” were home to the population with the smallest proportion of foreign-born people. While the concentration of foreign-born individuals varies across the UK, since 1995 the share of foreign-born people in the UK population has increased in every region.

Figure 4

Inner and Outer London are also the areas with the highest share of foreign citizens in the total population (see Figure 5). Foreign citizens made up 27 and 19% of the population respectively in Inner and Outer London.

The share of recent migrants in the population varies from 1.0% in the ‘Rest of North East’ to 7.2% in Outer London and 12.6% in Inner London.

Figure 5

India is the most common country of birth among the foreign-born, but Poland tops list of foreign citizens in the UK

India, Poland, Ireland and Pakistan are the top four countries of birth for the foreign-born (Table 2) accounting respectively for 10.0, 8.5 and 5.5% of the total, followed by Germany and Bangladesh. Poland is the top country of citizenship of foreign citizens, accounting for about 15.2% of the total.

Table 2 - Top ten sender countries of migrants by country of birth and nationality, UK 2011

Country of birth	Share of all foreign born	Country of citizenship	Share of all foreign citizens
India	10.0	Poland	15.2
Poland	8.5	India	7.5
Ireland	5.5	Pakistan	3.8
Pakistan	5.5	United States	3.4
Germany	4.2	Germany	2.9
Bagladesh	2.8	Lithuania	2.9
United States	2.7	Italy	2.7
South Africa	2.6	Portugal	2.6
Nigeria	2.5	France	2.5
Jamaica	1.9	Nigeria	2.4

Those born in India constitute the biggest group among the foreign-born population in London

India is the country of birth for 10% of all foreign-born persons living in London (Figure 6). Other Asian countries such as Bangladesh (4.1%), Sri Lanka (3.0%) and Pakistan (2.9%) are also in the top-ten countries of birth of migrants in London. Poland, Ireland and Germany are the only three European countries in the top ten. With the exception of Sri Lanka, all top-ten countries of birth for migrants in London are also top-ten countries at the UK level.

Figure 6

Evidence gaps and limitations

The LFS is a continuous survey of around 60,000 households each quarter. Although the LFS contains spatial information at a regional level, the standard release of LFS data set does not contain local authority identifiers. It is therefore not possible to use the standard LFS to analyse trends and characteristics of migration across local areas. The Annual Population Survey (APS) available since 2004 is more suitable for this purpose.

The LFS has some limitations for estimating the dynamics of migrants in the UK. First, it does not measure the scale of irregular migration. Second, it does not provide information on asylum seekers. Third, the LFS excludes those who do not live in households, such as those in hotels, caravan parks and other communal establishments. The LFS is therefore likely to underestimate the UK population of recent migrants.