UK immigration sees 590,000 arrivals last year

November 26 2009 by Liam Clifford

UK immigration statistics reveal increases in people entering and leaving the UK.

The number of people arriving in the UK has risen, this is despite a record number of people also leaving the country, new figures from the Office for National Statistics has revealed.

590,000 immigrants arrived in Britain last year, an increase on the previous year by 16,000. However at the same time 427,000 migrants left Britain, meaning net migration was not as the first figure would suggest, and equating to 163,000 more people in the country than last year.

The amount of people leaving Britain is said to have been driven by Eastern European workers now deciding to return home.

UK immigration minister Phil Woolas seemed to refute this suggestion and claimed the new figures demonstrated immigrants were coming to the UK on the basis of working and then returning home.

He continued by saying that migration was a benefit to the country and stricter policies had contributed to the decrease in net UK immigration.

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