The OECDʼs latest report shows UK had record-breaking migration growth - a whopping 52.9% jump since about a year ago. A total of 746‚900 permanent-type newcomers chose Britain as their home (which dont include students or Ukrainian refugees)
South-Korea came in second with a 50.9% increase but its total numbers were way smaller - just 87‚100 people. The US still leads in raw numbers; welcoming 1‚2m migrants - making Britain the runner-up among wealthy nations
Family-related migration played a big role: theres been a huge rise in relatives coming with work-visa holders especially in health-care sector. Since 03/24 new rules stopped care workers from bringing family members; but before that it was the main reason for the increase
- Pre-covid comparison shows migration more than doubled
- New Zealand saw triple the numbers
- Lithuania and Poland had sharp increases too
The employment landscape changed a lot - now Britain has 7m foreign-born workers (an all-time high) while local-born employment stays about 800k below what it was before covid. The OECD says rich countries got 6‚5m new permanent residents overall: this is making migration a hot-button issue for many 2024 elections