UK in 2021 saw highest net migration in post-WW2 period: Official data

The UK last year saw its highest net migration in the post-World War II period, the country's statistics office said Thursday.

In 2021 over half a million more people came to the UK than left, breaking the previous post-war record of 390,000 set in 2015, said Office for National Statistics data.

The increase was driven by a large number of refugees from Afghanistan, Hong Kong, and Ukraine that were given the right to live in the country, said Jay Lindop, director of the statistics office’s Centre for International Migration.

"The end of lockdown restrictions in the UK, the first full period following transition from the EU, the war in Ukraine, the resettlement of Afghans and the new visa route for Hong Kong British nationals (overseas) … all contributed to the record levels of long-term immigration we have seen," she said.

Lindop added that there also other reasons behind the hike such as more students arriving in the UK and people migrating for family reasons.

The data also showed that the immigration of EU nationals remained broadly stable in 2021, corresponding to 21% of total immigration.

On Oct. 26, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that he wants to see a decline in overall net migration but later declined to set an "arbitrary number.”