Britain saw a bigger increase in net migration last year than any other developed economy, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has said.
In a blow to Brexiteers, who promised the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union would bring down net migration, the OECD said Britain had a bigger spike than 28 other economically advanced countries.
The UK’s population grew by a record 750,000 in 2023, a 52.9 per cent increase on the net migration figure a year earlier, it said.
It meant the flow of immigrants into the UK grew more quickly than the United States, Germany, Canada, France, Australia and Japan.
Only the US’s net migration total was higher, 500,000 more than Britain despite having a population almost five times as large.
The country with the second biggest percentage spike in migration in 2023 was Korea, which added 87,000 people.
European Movement UK’s policy expert Mark English said the idea Brexit would cut immigration “was always a fantasy and the idea that the UK can do without a certain level of immigration is too”.
He told The Independent: “Immigration tends to fluctuate according to labour market needs and according to how many students, who bring money into the UK economy, want to come in and how many we want to come in.
“What is clear is that Brexit has made it harder for employers, especially the NHS, to get the workers they need rapidly and without red tape. And, as a result of this red tape, British people have lost the right to live, study and work and retire in up to 30 other European countries.”
Overall net migration to the UK has consistently exceeded pre-Brexit, pre-Covid levels of roughly 200,000 to 300,000, leading to significant anger with the previous Conservative government.
When the figures reached record levels under Rishi Sunak, then shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said it demonstrated “Tory chaos and failure”.
Prime minister Keir Starmer has promised to cut “sky-high” immigration levels, arguing that British workers can be trained to reduce the country’s reliance on overseas labour.
“It is, as a point of fact, the policy of this government to reduce both net migration and our economic dependency on it,” he said in his first Labour conference speech as PM.
The OECD said a third of economically advanced countries experienced record immigration in 2023, including Canada, France, Japan, Switzerland and the UK.
It said part of the record high immigration to the UK can be explained by the rapid growth of visas granted to the dependants of international students.
Labour has confirmed it will go ahead with Tory restrictions on international students bringing family members to the UK.
Universities have reported a sharp decline in applications from international students, following the introduction of the measures.
The Home Office recently reported an almost 80 per cent reduction in the number of dependents accompanying international students to the UK.
More than 26,000 fewer student visa applications were made between January and March 2024 compared to the same period in 2023, according to the report.
A Downing Street spokesman said: “The PM has been clear that migration has been far too high in recent years and needs to come down. We have a clear plan to deliver this.”
