Migration to the UK Has Changed Since Brexit

Many people who voted for Brexit did so to limit immigration. But immigration to the UK hasn’t stopped since Brexit. It has just changed.

• Migration was a key issue driving opinion on the UK’s EU membership, with many people having voted for Brexit because they wanted to curb immigration.
• But Brexit didn’t stop immigration to the UK. Rather, it has changed immigration flows. Immigration to the UK continues. Only now, much of it comes from countries outside the EU.
• Before Brexit, around half of migrants to the UK came from the EU, in great part from Poland, Romania, Spain and Portugal.
• EU migration fell substantially after the referendum, and many Europeans left: About 147,000 European nationals left the UK in 2020, nearly three times the number of EU migrants who arrived in 2019.
• The UK has since introduced a points-based immigration system, with immigration routes for skilled workers with a job offer, and a global talent scheme for highly-skilled scientists and researchers.
• The drop in the number of EU workers has largely been offset by the increase in workers arriving from non-EU countries, many on fast-track visa schemes for high demand jobs.