Brexodus: Uk immigration drops after Brexit vote

Net migration to Britain has fallen to a three-year low as a growing number of European Union citizens have left the country following last year's Brexit referendum.

Data released Thursday by the Office for National Statistics provides evidence that the uncertainty and economic jitters caused by Britain's vote to quit the EU are deterring immigrants and sparking a "Brexodus."

The statistics office said net migration — the difference between arrivals and departures — was 246,000 in the year to March 31, a fall of 81,000 on a year earlier. More than half the change was due to a decline of 51,000 people in net migration from the EU.

The ONS said the change was mostly caused by plummeting arrivals from the European Union, as the number of EU citizens leaving Britain rose by 33,000.

Of the 51,000 non-British citizens who returned to their home countries, 44,000 were EU citizens – up 20,000 from the previous year – half of whom were from eight countries including Poland that joined the EU in 2004.

Nicola White, head of international migration statistics at the ONS, said: "The net migration change was driven by an increase in emigration, mainly for EU citizens and in particular EU8 citizens, and a decrease in immigration across all groups.

“These results are similar to 2016 estimates (published in May 2017) and indicate that the EU referendum result may be influencing people’s decision to migrate into and out of the UK, particularly EU and EU8 citizens.

Theresa May has vowed to cut net migration to the "tens of thousands" but former Chancellor George Osborne has claimed other Cabinet members do not feel the target is achievable. 

And business leaders have warned cutting the number of skilled migrants coming to the UK would make it difficult to companies and services like the NHS going.

Statistics released on Thursday also showed that the UK’s economy is growing at half the rate of that in the Eurozone amid a Brexit-fuelled jump in inflation.