Poland tops the table

Poland is now the most common overseas country of birth for people living in the UK for the first time, new figures show.

There were an estimated 831,000 Polish-born residents in 2015 – a jump of almost threequarters of a million compared to the number in 2004 – the year the country joined the EU.

It means Poland overtook India, which had 795,000 people last year, as the most common non-UK nation of birth.

Polish was also the most common non-British nationality, with an estimated 916,000 residents. Figures are compiled by both country of birth and nationality, which can be subject to change.

Overall, one in eight (13.3%) of the people living in the UK were born abroad last year – compared to one in 11 in 2004.