Number of migrants down 20% in 12 months after Brexit vote
THE number of foreigners moving to Birmingham plummeted after the Brexit referendum, figures have revealed.
Some 14,163 ‘long-term’ international migrants – defined as those who stay for at least a year – arrived in the city from overseas between mid-2016 and mid2017, according to estimates published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
That was down 3,556 on the previous year, when 17,719 people arrived.
The Brexit referendum took place in June 2016 – right at the start of the period being measured.
The data shows that the number of people leaving Birmingham to move abroad long-term also fell.
Between mid-2016 and mid2017, 5,898 people did so – down from 6,879 the previous year.
The figures do not reveal how many of those 5,898 were foreign-born, or the countries they moved to.
It means net long-term international migration to the city dropped from 10,840 in the 12 months to mid-2016, to 8,265 in the 12 months to mid-2017.
The trend in Birmingham was replicated in other parts region, and the country.
The number of long-term international migrants arriving in the wider West Midlands dropped by 9,566 from 54,885 in the year to mid-2016, to 45,319 in the year to mid-2017.
There were a number of places where the number of people leaving the UK long-term outstripped the number of people arriving.
The ONS figures are, ultimately, an estimate, since statisticians have no way of measuring the exact number of foreigners arriving in each town or city.
The estimates are based on a number of sources including applications for National Insurance numbers and registrations at GP surgeries.
The figures do not include foreigners moving to Birmingham from another part of the UK. That is classed as “internal”, rather than international migration. of the