The number of migrants arriving in Britain in 2022 jumped to a record 1,163,000 figures released Thursday show, with the largest increase among people from non-European countries.
Net migration, the number of people arriving minus the number leaving, surged to 606,000, up from 504,000 in the 12 months to June, driven by the world opening up as COVID-19 restrictions came to an end and schemes offering sanctuary to people fleeing war and persecution in Ukraine and Hong Kong, the Office for National Statistics said.
The figures, which for the first time include asylum seekers, show almost one million of the arrivals were non-EU nationals while only 151,000 were from the EU. Britons returning from living overseas made up just under 90,000 of arrivals. The number emigrating, or returning to their own country, was 557,000.
"A series of unprecedented world events throughout 2022 and the lifting of restrictions following COVID led to record levels of international immigration to the U.K.," ONS Center for International Migration Director Jay Lindop said in a Twitter post.
"The main driver of the increase was people coming to the U.K. from non-EU countries for work, study and humanitarian purposes, including those from Ukraine and Hong Kong."
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