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Brexit voters got record immigration
The Numbers
Since the 2016 referendum, net immigration has totaled over 3 million people. Population growth topped 1% in back-to-back years, the highest since the late 1940s, and it came almost exclusively from net migration rather than a baby boom.
The New Rules
In 2021 a single points-based system began judging EU and non-EU citizens by the same criteria for the first time. EU citizens lost visa-free entry, and EU immigration has declined since the referendum, with more EU citizens leaving than arriving from 2022. Non-EU migration went the other way, because the government relaxed the rules and opened new pathways.
The relaxed rules answered universities short of money, sectors short of workers, and people fleeing crises in Hong Kong, Afghanistan, and Ukraine.
Why did EU migration fall after Brexit?
Free movement between the UK and the EU ended when the Brexit transition period finished on 31 December 2020. From January 2021, EU citizens arriving in Britain needed a visa like everyone else. EU citizens already living in the UK could apply to the EU Settlement Scheme, which had a deadline in June 2021. Millions of people applied, which kept those already in the country separate from new arrivals in the figures.
How does a points-based immigration system work?
Applicants earn points for attributes such as a job offer, the skill level of the job, salary, and English language ability, and they qualify once they pass a set threshold. The design lets a government adjust the threshold or the points to tighten or loosen entry without rewriting the whole system. Canada introduced one of the first points systems in 1967, and Australia adopted its own in the 1970s. The UK's 2021 version applied the same scoring to every nationality.
Why did Britain open a route for Hong Kong residents?
Before the 1997 handover, Britain created a special status called British National (Overseas) for Hong Kong residents, and about a few hundred thousand people held passports under it. In 2020 China imposed a national security law on Hong Kong. The UK responded with a visa route that opened in January 2021 for BN(O) status holders and their close family members. The route offers a path to settlement in the UK.
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