The United Kingdom has recorded a net immigration rate of more than half a million in the last year, a record figure that contrasts with the targets set with Brexit and which London attributes to «unprecedented global events».
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) puts the difference resulting from subtracting immigration and long-term emigration data at around 504,000. This report, updated to June, implies a drastic rise from the 173,000 recorded in the previous year.
The authorities claim that it was a «unique» period, which coincided with the resumption of international mobility after the improvement of the COVID-19 pandemic, support for Ukrainian citizens and the establishment of a new migration system following the exit from the EU, among other factors.
«All of these have contributed to relatively high levels of total long-term immigration, up to about 1.1 million in the year to June 2022,» the institute explained.
The net migration rate corresponds especially to non-EU citizens, since if only non-EU persons are taken into account the figure would amount to 509,000. In the case of EU citizens, the rate is negative, with a decrease of 51,000, as well as among the British, with 45,000 less.
