Exodus of immigrants from UK is speeding up
5 August 2009

A new report by the IPPR (Insitute of Public Policy research) shows that more and more immigrants to the UK are staying for a short time and then leaving. The outflow in the last couple of years is close to 400,000. Research in 5 countries showed that migrants tend to come to the UK for economic reasons, but leave for personal reasons. The migrants who are most likely to leave are those with high skills, good education and low barriers to movement. These people are becoming increasingly ‘super mobile’.

Major findings from the report, 'Shall we stay or Shall we Go: Re-migration trends among Britain’s immigrants' include:

• More than 3 million immigrants to the UK in the last thirty years have subsequently left - around half the total
• The size of the exodus is increasing, with more than 190,000 leaving in 2007 - a number that is likely to be exceeded in 2008
• Short stay migration is a growing phenomenon - immigrants spending less than four years in the UK doubled between 1996 and 2007
• 85% of migrants currently in the UK who took part in an on-line survey said they were only planning to stay short term.

The findings could have important implications for the Government’s new points-based immigration and citizenship systems, which put an emphasis on highly skilled migration and greater integration of immigrants.

Tim Finch, Head of Migration at IPPR, says:"The migration debate in the UK is fixated with the idea that immigrants come to settle and not enough attention has been paid to the fact that more and more immigrants are spending only short periods in the UK. Our research shows that many groups of migrants are now increasingly mobile. They are coming to the UK to study and work for short periods and then they are moving on. As global competition for highly skilled migrants increases in future years, schemes to retain migrants may become as important as attracting them in the first place.”

The report’s policy recommendations to the Government include:

• Taking more active steps to encourage some migrants to stay longer in the UK through using the points based system, retention schemes, simplified visa extensions and tax incentives
• Piloting and promoting Migration Information Centres and ‘Circular Migration’ schemes so that short stay migration is better managed
• Making sure that migrant integration strategies take into account the increasing amount of short stay migration
• Improving links with former immigrants to the UK and treating them as a ‘secondary diaspora’ which could be regarded as an economic and diplomatic asset

Sean Drury, international mobility partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (PwC), said of the report: "This is a timely reminder of the risks of losing talent to the global economy. As we begin to emerge from the global economic downturn, the 'super mobile' will again become increasingly valuable to global employers. Getting the right people to the right market at the right time will be a significant source of global advantage for businesses."

"Key talent will become increasingly attracted to those locations that meet their quality of life and personal wealth creation needs. Countries which have low barriers to entry will attract these employees and, ultimately, their employers. There are clearly risks to the UK economy if it is not attractive for the super mobile. Increasingly, we are seeing foreign governments, especially within Europe, give specific tax breaks for such mobile employees, such as in France, Spain, Switzerland and Belgium."

Click here for a summary of the report 'Shall we stay or Shall we Go: Re-migration trends among Britain’s immigrants' ()