Home Office Stats for the 3rd Quarter 2015 (July to September)
In today’s blogpost we will look at the latest in immigration trends as published by the Home Office.
Each quarter the Home Office releases the latest immigration data. This data is important because it shows, on a quarterly basis, the latest trends in migration. The data is useful because it can be broken down into various categories such as work, personal migration and can give us insights into where immigration is coming from. The data is used by the Home Office to assess how migration policies are performing and can be used as a base to create future immigration policies.
What are some of the key points? Firstly, immigration is at an all-time record level since 2002. From the year ending June 2014 compared to June 2015 net migration is up by 82,000 to 336,000. This 82,000 difference can contributed to a 62,000 increase in immigration and a 20,000 decrease in emigration. Within this increase, both EU and non EU immigration have witnessed increased by figures of 42,000 and 36,000 respectively.
Work
294,000 people immigrated to the UK for work purposes for the year ending 2015 which represents a significant increase of 53,000 compared to the year ending June 2014, 187,000 had a definite job in place. 101,000 were EU citizens and 54,000 were non-EU citizens.
In the year ending September 2015 the Home Office reports that the main increase in the demand for work related visas can be attributed to the Tier 2 skilled work (4% increase) and youth mobility categories (6% increase). Within the sponsored visa category there was an 8% increase in applications in the following categories Information and Communication, Professional, Scientific and Technical Activities, Financial and Insurance Activities and, finally, Human Health and Social Work Activities. Indians made up 57% of all skilled visas granted with the USA in second place with a 11% share.
The top 5 nationalities of sponsored tier 2 applications
- India
- United States
- Australia
- China
- Japan
The high value (Tier 1 Categories) have witnessed a 28% in applications which is thought to be attributed to the increasingly difficult requirements that applicants are required to meet. However, in terms of growth areas for UK service industries the 7% increase in Tier 2 Skilled visas granted would suggest a healthy market that is moving from strength to strength.
Family
In the year ending September 2015 36724 family visas were granted a 6% increase compared to the previous period. Over 75% of family visas were granted to partners. Below is a breakdown of the top 5 nationalities for family visas:
- Pakistan
- USA
- India
- Syria
- Bangladesh
Study
In the year ending September 2015 applications for study visas dropped by 4%. Notably, in the further education sector there was a bigger drop of 19% which certainly will be of a worry to universities who are reliant on foreign students to balance their books. Overall, the top 5 nationalities who applied for study visas were the following.
- China
- USA
- India
- Malaysia
- Nigeria