Foreign-born population of the United Kingdom

In the period January to December 2017, there were groups from 25 foreign countries that were estimated to consist of at least 100,000 individuals residing in the UK (people born in Poland, India, Pakistan, Romania, the Republic of Ireland, Germany, Bangladesh, Italy, South Africa, China, Nigeria, Lithuania, France, Spain, the United States, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Portugal, Australia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Ghana, Latvia and Somalia).

[13] In January 2021, analysis by the Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence suggested that there had been an "unprecedented exodus" of almost 1.3 million foreign-born people from the UK between July 2019 and September 2020, in part due to the burden of job losses resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic falling disproportionately on foreign-born workers.

Interviews conducted by Al Jazeera suggested that Brexit may have been a more significant push factor than the pandemic.

[16]The table below lists the places of birth of UK residents according to the 2001 Census, as reported by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

[19][20] In 2001, the five most common foreign countries of birth were the Republic of Ireland, India, Pakistan, Germany and the United States respectively.

[21][22][20] The United States dropped to eighth place behind South Africa and Bangladesh, despite growth in the size of the U.S.-born population.

In particular, the 2004 and 2007 enlargements of the European Union have led to mass migration from Poland, Bulgaria, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia and Lithuania.

[19] The most significant decrease in a foreign-born population resident in the UK between 2001 and 2010 is in the number of those originating from the Republic of Ireland.