2013 Statistics
The Office for National Statistics in the UK said the net flow, the numbers of people moving to the UK minus the number of people leaving it, rose from 154,000 in the previous year to 212,000 in 2013.
The increase has been driven by a big growth in the number of European Union citizens coming to Britain, mainly been fuelled by migrants from the recession-hit southern European countries of Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece, as well as Poland.
Non European Migration Statistics
Overall figures for non-EU migration show that immigration from outside Europe fell from 269,000 to 244,000. This reflected May’s curbs on student migration – the number of those coming to study at further education colleges is down by 34% and the number of overseas students from India has fallen by 21%, and from Pakistan by 55%. The number of family visas granted has gone down by 7,202.
Asylum Seeker Statistics
The number of applications for asylum, excluding dependants, in the year ending December 2013 (23,507) was 8% higher than the year ending December 2012 (21,843).
The increase of 1,664 applications is mainly accounted for by nationals of Syria (+681), Eritrea (+649) and Albania (+507). The largest number of asylum applications in 2013 came from Pakistan (3,343), Iran (2,417), Sri Lanka (1,808) and Syria (1,669). Applications for asylum peaked in the year ending December 2002 (84,132) but no longer contribute as greatly to long-term migration inflows (typically accounting for about 5%).
Global Recipients of Asylum Claims
With an estimated 70,400 asylum applications, the United States of America was the largest recipient of new asylum claims in 2012, accounting for 8% of all individual applications worldwide. Germany was second with 64,500 asylum applications, followed by South Africa (61,500), France (55,100), and Sweden (43,900). By comparison, the UK received 23,499 new applications for asylum in the year ending June 2013, according to the United Nations.
UK Office for National Statistics
