The U.K. beats the world’s richest nations in its immigration growth per capita, while over 7 million foreign-born workers are now employed in Britain for the first time, filling one in five jobs.
The U.K. saw the sharpest increase in immigration among developed countries last year, as new data from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) shows 746,900 individuals moved to Britain in 2023 — a 52.9 percent surge from the previous year’s total of 488,400.
The dramatic rise, which outpaces every other OECD member nation, occurred under the Conservative government, though the trend is expected to persist with Labour’s Keir Starmer now in office.
The figures highlight that the U.K. experienced the second-highest raw number of arrivals, trailing only the United States, which recorded 1.2 million migrants. In comparison, South Korea’s growth, at 50.9 percent, saw just 87,100 arrivals. This significant influx follows a 110 percent rise in U.K. immigration since 2019, reflecting a growing trend in family-linked migration and work visas.
A key driver of the U.K.’s immigration spike was family reunification, which climbed by 60 percent in 2023 to 373,000. This accounted for 70 percent of the rise in family-linked permits, largely tied to health and care worker visas. Policy shifts this year now prevent new care workers from bringing relatives, a move intended to curb numbers, but Brits are skeptical after experiencing all-time highs for consecutive years.