413,000 move to UK from eastern EU as 6,300 Britons go there

THE number of Romanians and Bulgarians living in Britain rocketed nearly 80 per cent in just two years, latest figures reveal.

The total for citizens from the two eastern European countries in the UK jumped from 230,000 in 2014 to 413,000 last year.

The surge in new arrivals is 65 times more than the 6,300 UK expats who have made the reverse trip, a trend described as “lopsided movement”.

The figures are set out in the latest in a series of reports from the Office for National Statistics examining migration patterns between the UK and other EU countries.

Romania and Bulgaria, known as the EU2 nations, joined the bloc in 2007 but their citizens were not given unrestricted rights to live or work in the UK until 2014.

Rich Pereira, ONS deputy director for population statistics, said: “The picture of migration between the UK and the EU2 countries clearly shows a somewhat lopsided balance of movement, with the UK evidently proving an attractive labour market for Romanian and Bulgarian citizens since those countries’ full accession to the EU.

“This presents an obvious area of concern for both those large numbers of citizens who have moved to the UK, and for the jobs they have been doing, as the UK continues its negotiations to leave the EU.”

Figures have previously indicated a rise in the total EU2 population in the UK after the lifting of restrictions. It is now estimated that on average 328,400 EU2 citizens were resident in the UK from 2014 to the end of 2016.

Of these 78 per cent, or 256,800, were Romanians and 22 per cent, or 71,700, were Bulgarians. Eighty-one per cent of Romanian and Bulgarian nationals living in the UK in the relevant years were aged 16 to 64, with about 20 per cent jobless.

Of those of working age 11,500, or four per cent, were jobless, 12,600 (five per cent) were inactive due to study and 32,100 (12 per cent) were “otherwise economically inactive”.

For both nationalities the biggest employers are the distribution sector, hotels and restaurants and construction.

Banking and finance employ 18 per cent of Bulgarians and 14 per cent of Romanians.

The data showed most of the 3,900 British citizens living in Bulgaria last year were 50 or older, while the 2,300 in Romania were mainly aged 30 to 49.