India now the most common non-UK country of birth for British citizens; surpasses Poland

New migration figures released on Thursday by the Home Office and the Office for National Statistics in the United Kingdom show a notable increase in the number of Indians granted student visas, British nationality and work-related visas. According to the data for the year ending March 2020, India is now the most common non-UK country of birth of British citizens with 863,000 people, taking over Poland which topped the list since 2015. 

136% jump in number of student visas to Indians

The figures also reveal that Indians top the list of those returning voluntarily to their home countries. There was a 136% jump in the number of student visas issued to Indians. The number stands at 49,844 as compared to 21,158 in the year ending March 2019. However, due to COVID-19 pandemic, the number of students who will turn up for the upcoming academic year starting in September-October cannot be predicted.

In 2019, the non-UK-born population was 9.5 million and the non-British population was 6.2 million; the size of these populations has remained largely stable since 2017.

London saw the highest proportion of non-UK-born residents

Chinese (586,179) and Indian (497,999) nationals together accounted for just under half  -- 46% of all visitor visas granted during the year. Apart from this, Indian nationals account for 50% of all Tier 2 (work-related) visas granted, the number of grants increasing by 3% to 58,114.

The number of people with an EU nationality in 2019 remained broadly similar to 2018 levels, although there was a small increase in those holding EU2 nationality. The figures also show that London remained the region with the largest proportion of non-UK-born and non-British populations in 2019. The region saw the highest proportion of non-UK-born residents, at 37%, and non-British residents, at 22% The figures show that the proportion of the population in local authorities who were born outside the UK, or who held non-British nationality, varied across the country. The pattern can be explored in detail in the above interactive. 

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As in 2018, there was one local authority where just over half of the population were born outside of the UK: Brent, at 52%. Kensington and Chelsea, Westminster, and Harrow all had just under half (49%) of the population not born in the UK.

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