EU migration rate at lowest for a decade

... while net arrivals in Britain from outside Europe reach a 15-year HIGH

IMMIGRATION into Britain from the EU has fallen to its lowest level in almost a decade, official figures showed yesterday.

There were 57,000 more Europeans who came to live here than left for countries on the continent over the course of a year – the lowest net migration total since 2009.

And the Office for National Statistics figures indicated that more people from Poland and Eastern Europe left this country than arrived, a reversal of the great migration into Britain from the East that began 15 years ago.

The figures, for the 12 months that ended last September, appear to show a new migration pattern developing since the Brexit referendum result of June 2016 – one that has seen greatly reduced EU immigration.

But critics pointed to rising levels of arrivals from outside Europe, a total pushed up by increasing numbers of students. There were 261,000 more immigrants from outside the EU than people who left Britain to live in non-EU countries – the highest net migration figure for non-EU countries for nearly 15 years.

Their numbers pushed the overall figure for net migration to 283,000 for the year to September. Net migration was cut by 35,000 more British citizens leaving the UK than returning.

Net migration, which indicates how immigration levels are affecting the population, has now stood at roughly the same level since the last months of 2016. It is currently around 50,000 lower than the peaks of 330,000-plus that were reached in 2015 and early 2016, but still at three times the level that Theresa May and her ministers have promised to bring about.

The Prime Minister has maintained her promise to bring down net migration to 1990s levels of below 100,000. Jay Lindop, of the ONS, said: ‘Due to increasing numbers arriving for work and study, non-EU net migration is now at the highest level since 2004.

‘In contrast, EU net migration, while still adding to the population as a whole, has fallen to a level last seen in 2009.’ Overall, there were 627,000 arrivals over the 12 months. Of these, there were 340,000 from outside Europe, 202,000 EU citizens, and 85,000 British citizens returning from living abroad.

The figures show 15,000 more people left Britain to live in Poland and other Eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004 than left them to live here. But there were 38,000 more immigrants from Romania and Bulgaria, which joined the EU in 2014, than those who left Britain to return there.

Business leaders have warned of labour and skills shortages because of falling EU immigration and university chiefs complained of a threat to their ability to attract lucrative numbers of foreign students.

But Lord Green, of the Migration Watch UK think-tank, said: ‘It is a real concern that nonEU net migration has risen still further to more than a quarter of a million even before the Government has implemented its proposals to loosen the work permit system.’

Mrs May’s spokesman said the increase in non-EU immigrants was driven in part by the need to recruit more doctors and nurses for the NHS.

He confirmed that the PM remained committed to reducing annual net migration to the tens of thousands, but said she had always been clear that it would take time to achieve it.

‘A new pattern is developing’