The number of non-EU migrants coming to the UK to work and study soared in the first year of Britain’s post-Brexit immigration system, official figures have revealed.
Home Office immigration figures for the whole of last year revealed there were 239,987 work-related visas granted, 25 per cent higher than in 2019, the last full year before the pandemic. Less than a tenth were EU migrants, who had to obtain a visa from January last year after the end of freedom of movement.
The main driver of the sharp increase in work-related immigration since 2019 came from migrants from outside the EU.
The introduction of the Skilled Worker Route in January last year led to a third more skilled migrants entering the UK than the more restrictive Tier 2 visa it replaced. The total number who came under the skilled route, which accounts for the majority of work-related visas, rose to more than 150,000 last year.
The vast majority were migrants from outside the EU, with the number surging by more than a fifth compared with 2019.
Indian, Pakistani, Nigerian and Filipino workers accounted for most of the increase. Indians account for the largest number of skilled work visas, with 67,839 granted last year, 14 per cent higher than 2019.
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