UK crowned ‘Europe’s immigration capital’ | UK | News

Britain attracted more immigrants than any other European country in 2023, according to official figures highlighting the size of UK arrivals.

An estimated 1.27 million foreign nationals moved to Britain during the year; this figure is roughly equivalent to the population of Birmingham.

While Germany received approximately 1.22 million immigrants, it was followed by Spain with 1.1 million immigrants. Italy recorded 378,000 arrivals and France 295,000.

The figures were determined by the House of Commons Library in a recent report examining migration trends, based on data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the EU’s Eurostat agency.

Last fall but comparisons are limited

Immigration levels in the UK have since fallen, the Daily Mail reported; By June 2025, fewer than 900,000 people had arrived.

However, direct comparisons with EU countries are no longer possible as Eurostat data for other countries are not updated after 2023.

Despite the recent decline, Britain’s rising immigration levels in recent years have raised concerns among analysts, with most arrivals entering the country legally, according to the report.

Concerns about legal immigration

Alp Mehmet, of the UK Immigration Watch, told the Daily Mail about what he described as Britain’s “soft touch” system: “More than five million long-term migrants have arrived in the past five years, nearly twenty-five times as many as those crossing the English Channel illegally in small boats.”

“They come because we make it possible, because they will be better off and they know they may be allowed to stay here.

“Add to this the existing government support and the question arises: Why wouldn’t they come?”

Net migration is also the highest

Net migration figures, which measure the difference between arrivals and departures, also place the UK at the top of the European table.

In 2023, Britain recorded 897,000 net migration, while Germany had 793,000, Spain had 616,000, Italy had 334,000 and France had 218,000.

The UK’s rise to become Europe’s leading destination comes after it overtook Germany, which had previously held that position for many years.

Germany’s net migration was around 100,000 in 2009 and rose sharply in 2015, reaching 1.27 million.

That year, then-Chancellor Angela Merkel opened Germany’s borders to large numbers of refugees and declared: “Wir schaffen das,” which roughly translates to “we’ll handle it.”

Brexit and policy changes

The following year, the United Kingdom voted to leave the EU, a move interpreted as a rejection of mass immigration.

But by 2021, the UK has overtaken Germany as Europe’s main migrant destination, despite public opposition.

Some of the change has been attributed to Germany tightening border controls, while immigration from the UK has increased rapidly.

Much of the increase was driven by what is known as the “Boris wave”, marked by an increase in non-EU migration between 2021 and 2023.

This follows the launch of a new immigration system introduced in early 2021 as an “Australian-style, points-based” model.

In practice, the system operated as an employer-led work visa program, lowering skills and salary thresholds.

The minimum salary requirement has fallen from £30,000 to £25,600, allowing more mid-skilled positions to qualify.

Save visa numbers

Previously, most workers outside the EU needed a graduate-level job paying at least £30,000 to qualify for a sponsored visa, with limited exceptions.

Although Covid travel restrictions initially obscured the impact of the changes, once restrictions eased the impact became clear.

A record 1.2 million residence visas have been issued through June 2022; This is the highest figure since records began.

The increase comes amid growing public dissatisfaction with immigration levels.

Surveys show that the proportion of people who believe immigration is too high in the last decade has increased by nearly 20 percent in the last two years.

population changes

An ONS forecast for June 2023 puts the number of non-UK-born residents in England and Wales at 11.4 million.

This included 3.4 million EU-born residents and 8.0 million people from outside the EU, accounting for approximately 19% of the total population.

By comparison, by 2024 there were approximately 1.3 million UK citizens living in EU countries excluding Ireland.

India, Poland, Pakistan, Romania and Ireland were the countries with the highest birth rates among immigrants in 2021/22, accounting for 32% of those born abroad.

Family reasons are most frequently cited for moving to the UK in 2022 with 37%, followed by work with 29% and education with 14%.

London had the highest share of immigrants, with over 40% of its residents born outside the UK.

Long-term trends and illegal immigration

High levels of immigration are a relatively new development in Britain.

Between 1964 and 1983 the UK experienced overall net migration; net migration was recorded only in 1979.

Net migration has been positive since 1994 and has exceeded 100,000 annually since 1998, except for 2020.

Immigration levels fell during the Covid pandemic, when net migration fell to an estimated 93,000.

Despite this, research suggests that the UK may also have the highest number of undocumented immigrants in Europe.

Oxford University experts estimate the illegal immigrant population in the UK at 745,000; This is above France’s population of 300,000 and Germany’s upper estimate of 700,000.

Researchers have suggested this may be linked to the relative size of Britain’s underground economy.

They also noted that differences in how countries record migration mean comparisons need to be approached with caution, as the figures are estimates rather than exact counts.