The U.K. saw the sharpest increase in immigration among developed countries last year, as new data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows 746,900 individuals moved to Britain in 2023 — a 52.9 percent surge from the previous year’s total of 488,400.
The dramatic rise, which outpaces every other OECD member nation, occurred under the Conservative government, though the trend is expected to persist with Labour’s Keir Starmer now in office.
The figures highlight that the U.K. experienced the second-highest raw number of arrivals, trailing only the United States, which recorded 1.2 million migrants. In comparison, South Korea’s growth, at 50.9 percent, saw just 87,100 arrivals. This significant influx follows a 110 percent rise in U.K. immigration since 2019, reflecting a growing trend in family-linked migration and work visas.
A key driver of the U.K.’s immigration spike was family reunification, which climbed by 60 percent in 2023 to 373,000. This accounted for 70 percent of the rise in family-linked permits, largely tied to health and care worker visas. Policy shifts this year now prevent new care workers from bringing relatives, a move intended to curb numbers, but Brits are skeptical after experiencing all-time highs for consecutive years.
The U.K. also issued more student visas than any other OECD country, with nearly 450,000 granted in 2023.
The OECD figures follow those published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) this week which showed that 7 million foreign-born workers are now employed in Britain, filling one in every five jobs.
London has the largest proportion of migrants across the U.K., with 40 percent of its residents born abroad and millions more second and third-generation migrants. The most common countries of origin within Britain are India, Poland, Pakistan, Romania, and Ireland.
Millions more, however, remain living in Britain without working and with access to taxpayer-funded benefits.
Despite the Conservatives’ token efforts to manage migration, including raising salary thresholds for skilled worker visas, Labour’s rise to power suggests little will change despite immigration consistently polling as one of the top concerns among the British public.
The left-wing government has not set any official target figure to reduce legal immigration, nor has it set any formal caps on visa numbers. Instead, the government has announced vague plans to introduce “appropriate restrictions on visas” and upskill British workers to reduce reliance on the foreign labor market — a pledge made by multiple governments over the past decades without delivery.
Keir Starmer has adopted a similar approach to immigration as former prime minister Rishi Sunak and his Conservative predecessors by pledging to “smash the gangs,” obfuscating the tens of thousands of illegal immigrants with the millions being allowed to enter Britain lawfully.
However, while illegal immigration remains on the rise — 34,000 have crossed the Channel in boats so far this year, an 18 percent increase over the same period in 2023 — legal immigration is having an irrevocable effect.
The surge has drawn criticism from figures like Nigel Farage, leader of Reform U.K., who argues that mass immigration is straining the economy and depressing GDP per capita.
“You have to aim for net zero — net zero migration over the course of the next few years. Basically, we have to stop population growth through immigration,” he told the Telegraph.
“I thought Blair was bad but the Conservatives were even worse,” he added.
A recent report published by the Center for Policy Studies with input from former Conservative immigration minister Robert Jenrick concluded that mass immigration has “failed to deliver the significant economic and fiscal benefits its advocates promised, while putting enormous pressure on housing, public services, and infrastructure.”
The analysis claimed that GDP per capita had not seen the growth that pro-immigration politicians had suggested it would, and that net immigration accounts for 89 percent of the 1.34 million increase in the housing deficit in England alone over the last 10 years, while adding huge pressure to the rental market.
Between 2001 and 2021, the share of people in England and Wales born outside the U.K. increased from 9 percent to 17 percent — a trajectory that is expected to accelerate significantly over the next two decades.
