Foreign-born population of the United Kingdom


The foreign-born population of the United Kingdom includes immigrants from a wide range of countries who are resident in the United Kingdom. In the period January to December 2016, there were groups from 22 foreign countries that were estimated to consist of at least 100,000 individuals residing in the UK.
The foreign-born population increased from about 5.3 million in 2004 to nearly 9.3 million in 2018. In the decade leading up to 2018, the number of non-EU migrants outnumbered EU migrants while the number of EU migrants increased more rapidly. EU migrants were noted to be less likely to become British citizens than non-EU migrants.

Size of the foreign-born population

At the time of the UK census conducted in April 2001, 8.3 percent of the country's population were foreign-born. This was substantially less than that of major immigration countries such as Australia, Canada and the USA. In 2005, the foreign-born population was estimated at 9.1 percent, compared to a European Union average of 8.6 percent. The 2011 census recorded 7,337,139 foreign-born residents in England, corresponding to 13.8 percent of the population. The foreign-born population of Wales was recorded as 167,871, Scotland's as 369,284 and Northern Ireland's as 119,186, making the total foreign-born population of the UK 7,993,480. Figures for each census since 1951 are given in the table below.
A 2010 estimate for the whole of the UK shows that 4.76 million people were born outside the EU and 2.24 million were born in another EU member state.
The Office for National Statistics produces annual estimates of the size of the UK population by country of birth, based on the Annual Population Survey. The estimates for 2018 show that 9.3 million people were born abroad.
CensusForeign-born
population		Percentage increase
over previous decade		Percentage of
total population
19512,118,6004.2
19612,573,50021.54.9
19713,190,30024.05.8
19813,429,1007.56.2
19913,835,40011.86.7
20014,896,60027.78.3
20117,993,48063.012.7

Countries of origin

The table below lists the places of birth of UK residents according to the 2001 Census, as reported by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The table also lists population estimates of the foreign-born population for the top 60 foreign countries of birth in the period January 2010 to December 2010, published by the Office for National Statistics.
In 2001, the five most common foreign countries of birth were the Republic of Ireland, India, Pakistan, Germany and the United States respectively. In 2010, the most common foreign countries of birth were India, Poland, Pakistan, the Republic of Ireland and Germany, respectively. While those born in Germany constitute one of the UK's largest foreign-born groups, many are British nationals who were born in Germany to British military personnel based there. The United States dropped to eighth place behind South Africa and Bangladesh, despite growth in the size of the U.S.-born population.
The period between 2001 and 2010 saw significant change in the UK's foreign-born population. In particular, the 2004 and 2007 enlargements of the European Union have led to mass migration from Poland, Bulgaria, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia and Lithuania. The number of Poland-born people resident in the UK increased from 60,711 in 2001 to an estimated 532,000 in the year to December 2010, whilst the population born in Lithuania increased from 4,363 to an estimated 87,000. The most significant decrease in a foreign-born population resident in the UK between 2001 and 2010 is in the number of those originating from the Republic of Ireland. Whilst 533,901 people born in the Republic of Ireland were resident in the UK in 2001, this is estimated to have declined to 405,000 by 2010.
Country of birthPopulation Population Corresponding article
53,923,64256,254,898British people; Cornish people, English people, Manx people, Northern Irish people, Scottish people, Welsh people
467,634776,603Indians in the United Kingdom
60,711703,050Poles in the United Kingdom
321,167540,495Pakistanis in the United Kingdom
537,108503,288Irish migration to Great Britain
266,136322,220Germans in the United Kingdom
154,362230,143Bangladeshis in the United Kingdom
141,405218,732South Africans in the United Kingdom
88,378216,268Nigerians in the United Kingdom
158,434212,150Americans in the United Kingdom
51,078182,628Chinese in the United Kingdom
146,401172,829Jamaicans in the United Kingdom
107,244151,790Italians in the United Kingdom
129,633151,073Kenyans in the United Kingdom
96,281149,872French in the United Kingdom
40,118139,570Filipinos in the United Kingdom
67,938138,752Sri Lankans in the United Kingdom
107,871135,786Australians in the United Kingdom
49,524132,942Zimbabweans in the United Kingdom
96,445119,990Hong Kongers in the United Kingdom
4,363116,861Lithuanians in the United Kingdom
43,532110,775Somalis in the United Kingdom
56,112102,837Ghanaians in the United Kingdom
54,079100,956Turks in the United Kingdom
36,55598,967Portuguese in the United Kingdom
54,48291,179Spaniards in the United Kingdom
42,49491,087Iranians in the United Kingdom
7,63189,402Romanians in the United Kingdom
72,51886,415Canadians in the United Kingdom
77,67384,815Cypriots in the United Kingdom
32,23680,939Iraqis in the United Kingdom
49,88675,182Malaysians in the United Kingdom
40,43868,489Dutch in the United Kingdom
14,87568,256Afghans in the United Kingdom
5,27367,781
58,28667,276New Zealanders in the United Kingdom
4,27566,046
55,21365,447Ugandans in the United Kingdom
13,15956,166Hungarians in the United Kingdom
15,21556,055Brazilians in the United Kingdom
5,94354,695Nepalis in the United Kingdom
5,35151,875Bulgarians in the United Kingdom
16,25747,389Thais in the United Kingdom
40,47445,351Singaporeans in the United Kingdom
27,07845,123Mauritians in the United Kingdom
15,16042,491Russians in the United Kingdom
12,22041,605Czechs in the United Kingdom
37,53540,127Japanese in the United Kingdom
35,16939,700Greeks in the United Kingdom
32,63038,691Tanzanians in the United Kingdom
8,78936,148
22,52535,055Swedes in the United Kingdom
24,70033,686Egyptians in the United Kingdom
23,34732,429Vietnamese in the United Kingdom
30,17831,758Maltese in the United Kingdom
21,52930,897
21,66829,142
12,33127,691Colombians in the United Kingdom
10,67026,826Algerians in the United Kingdom
21,28325,364Trinidadians in the United Kingdom
17,04825,281Sierra Leoneans in the United Kingdom
18,69524,972
12,34823,519Moroccans in the United Kingdom
20,87223,458Guyanese in the United Kingdom
11,91323,414Ukrainians in the United Kingdom
19,50321,698Austrians in the United Kingdom
16,01021,458
8,56920,971Congolese in the United Kingdom
21,60120,271Barbadians in the United Kingdom
10,67119,758Sudanese in the United Kingdom
11,89219,608Israelis in the United Kingdom
12,50819,405Yemenis in the United Kingdom
6,56119,031Eritreans in the United Kingdom
2218,697
13,79818,236
12,34017,871
9,14117,684
10,45917,128Lebanese in the United Kingdom
7,77516,654Ethiopians in the United Kingdom
5,91415,712
2,31414,688Albanians in the United Kingdom
11,32214,325
5,88214,054
9,92413,064
5,40612,314Emiratis in the United Kingdom
3,92412,194
11,83011,955Gibraltarians in the United Kingdom
6,79611,339
3,23311,009
5,04910,502Mexicans in the United Kingdom
6,71110,344Indonesians in the United Kingdom
9,78310,009Grenadians in the United Kingdom
4,1689,950Syrians in the United Kingdom
8,2659,836
3,9969,834
3,2669,561
3,0359,422Ecuadorians in the United Kingdom
2,0059,361
6,9929,029
31,244
9,008Serbs in the United Kingdom
2,7948,535Ivoirians in the United Kingdom
6,6928,469
7,0918,008
7,9837,828Montserratians in the United Kingdom
4,0667,787Peruvians in the United Kingdom
5,1317,673Chileans in the United Kingdom
6,7396,851
12,3106,767Koreans in the United Kingdom
3,4646,754Fijians in the United Kingdom
3,0706,606
3,3536,368Mozambicans in the United Kingdom
3,1156,321
4,1856,261
6,5196,067
2,7825,731
8715,432
2,0224,820
2,3734,781
1,1544,734Belarusians in the United Kingdom
2,9864,602
1,1434,046Bolivians in the United Kingdom
3,8913,995Antiguans in the United Kingdom
2,9053,878
1,5833,844
2,0513,513
2,0243,432
4553,417
5513,388Georgians in the United Kingdom
1,2853,170Macedonians in the United Kingdom
5613,126Azerbaijanis in the United Kingdom
2,3552,917
5212,864
1,0622,706
1,0832,665
1,2302,649
3812,572
2652,529
1,2282,298
1,5522,225
7232,135
1,2222,092
1,7972,071
12,008Timorese in Northern Ireland
2931,821Mongolians in the United Kingdom
5891,790Armenians in the United Kingdom
5531,743
8631,596
5231,485
9631,472
1,2331,452
7061,304
N/A1,279-
1,0571,199
1331,132
7891,121
4991,049
1021,028
1,044968
595948
369914
331851
493816
99784
370777
492769
464716
420683
239678
0678
498583
237486
264476
86463
101455
225430
121411
223406
200402
135393
183371
309364
164340
51312
143298
163292
99237
125233
28233
96217
179182
312171
135168
62154
124134
3563
2331
1430
6,588N/A
2,483N/A
1,490N/A
1,151N/A
306N/A
61N/A
56N/A
37N/A
30N/A
19N/A
10N/A
9N/A
4N/A
3N/A
3N/A
3N/A
3N/A
0N/A
0N/A
0N/A
0N/A

Institute for Public Policy Research analysis

In 2005 the Institute for Public Policy Research published an analysis of data from the 2001 Census, revealing the number of people included in the census who were born outside the British Isles, where they lived, and comparing this information against the 1991 Census. The results were made available on the BBC website. Note that this data refers to Great Britain only, rather than the whole of the UK, because of the lack of digital boundaries in the census data for Northern Ireland.