Immigration to UK reached record high in run up to Brexit

Immigration to the UK has risen to a record level of 650,000 migrants in the year running-up to the EU referendum, the Office for National Statistics has revealed. 284,000 EU citizens made up almost half of those migrating to the UK in the year to June.

However, the latest official figures show that since Britain’s vote to leave the EU in June, new national insurance registrations by workers from the EU have fallen, with a drop of 17% among workers from Poland and other east European countries. Nicola White, head of international migration statistics at the Office for National Statistics, said it was too early to assess the impact the Brexit vote has had on long-term international migration.