In the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as numerous geopolitical factors, the UK experienced unprecedented, record-breaking net migration figures that reached their peak in 2022. This naturally attracted scrutiny from the public, politicians, and the press, as well as further feeding the flames of debate up and down the country.
But in this article, we’re going to cut through the rhetoric and look at exactly what happened in 2022 and why. We’ll be looking at how the pandemic, multiple humanitarian crises, economic demand, and post-Brexit reforms all coalesced to create the perfect storm.
Humanitarian Schemes
One of the biggest contributors to the UK’s record migration numbers in 2022 was how Britain reacted to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The government started new visa schemes that were designed to support Ukrainians who wanted to rebuild their lives in the UK.
On top of that, the UK also welcomed Hong Kongers and their families in the British National (Overseas) Programme, which gave them the opportunity to relocate to the UK and apply for indefinite leave to remain.
Altogether, these humanitarian arrivals contributed around 172,000 to the UK’s inbound migration statistics.
International Students Returned
During the pandemic, the number of international students coming to the UK dropped off significantly due to lockdown restrictions. But once the pandemic was over, the floodgates opened, and international students returned in record numbers. 485,000 international students came to the UK in 2022 via the Graduate Route.
Labour Demands Required Skilled Workers to Migrate
Since Brexit, the UK has been drought with skills shortages across many of its most important industries, like construction, social care, hospitality, and agriculture. So the government needed to find a way to encourage the international workers who were forced to leave to return, and they did so, using Skilled Worker visas and Health and Social Care Worker visas. These visas brought in a total of 235,000 people.
The Small Boats of It All
Now, to the elephant in the room. Those pesky small boats that dominate the UK’s immigration narrative. If I asked you to guess how many people entered the UK via small boats in 2022, you’d probably expect an astronomical number.
In actual fact, in the UK’s record year for net migration, just 4% of the 1.2 million arrivals came to the UK via a small boat – that’s just over 45,000 people.
Family Migration
The Family visa was, as it always has been, a core part of the UK’s immigration system in 2022. The visa brought in circa 90,000 individuals, and that doesn’t include those who got a Spouse visa in the UK, with London immigration experiencing particularly high numbers.
In Conclusion
Immigration is a nuanced political subject, often oversimplified by those who seek to exploit it for political gain. When we dive into the numbers, we can see that the UK’s exceptional migration figures in 2022 were driven by a unique cocktail of domestic policy, pandemic recovery, and international geopolitical events. Some of those who came were fleeing war, lots of them were students, and others came for jobs or to join their families who already lived in the UK.