Migration & refugees: EuropeU.K. foreign-born population exceeds 8 million
This Thursday, the U.K. Office for National Statistics (ONS) will publish a new set of migration statistics. The data will cover many different topics, but two numbers are likely to attract attention: one relating to the “flow” of migrants in and out of the United Kingdom, the other relating to the “stock” of foreign-born people living in the United Kingdom. In the last quarter’s data, net migration was estimated to stand at 318,000 — just 2,000 below the highest level previous recorded in 2005. The U.K.’s foreign-born population is expected to exceed eight million for the first time in the published ONS data. Experts say that the more fundamental questions about migration policy successes and failures are more nuanced than a set of figures, and these questions include how immigration affects the U.K. labor market and whether it makes existing U.K. residents wealthier.
This Thursday, the U.K. Office for National Statistics (ONS) will publish a new set of migration statistics. The data will cover many different topics, but two numbers are likely to attract attention: one relating to the “flow” of migrants in and out of the United Kingdom, the other relating to the “stock” of foreign-born people living in the United Kingdom.
The Migration Observatory (MO) at the University of Oxford notes that the flow number is the latest net migration data. In the last quarter’s data, net migration was estimated to stand at 318,000 — just 2,000 below the highest level previous recorded in 2005, shortly after the accession of the A8 countries to the EU. This is the figure which is used to assess the government’s target to reduce net migration “from the hundreds of thousands to then tens of thousands.” It could go down in Thursday’s data, or it could go up and break the previous record.
The second is the number of U.K. residents in 2014 who were born abroad. This number has increased steadily over time, and the current trend suggests that it is likely to exceed eight million for the first time in 2014.
Round numbers and record figures always attract attention. What, however, do they actually mean? Do these numbers have an inherent importance in themselves?
