Portuguese immigration to the UK continues to fall, having dropped 43% in the 12 months to June this year, according to official statistics published today by the British government.
The Ministry of Employment revealed today that 6,451 Portuguese registered with British social security between June 2022 and June 2023, 43% less than the 11,335 registered in the previous 12 months.
Social security registration is a requirement to be able to work or receive social benefits in the country and an indicator used to calculate demographic flows.
The reduction in the number of Portuguese confirms the trend seen in 2022, which saw a 41% drop to 7,941 Portuguese registrations with British social security, compared to 13,551 in 2021.
It is estimated that around 400,000 Portuguese live in the UK, most of whom have settled since the 2010s.
Figures updated today by the Ministry of the Interior on the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) counted 483,350 applications by Portuguese citizens until June 30, 2023 to obtain a residence permit, which is mandatory in the post-Brexit regime.
Of these, 267,320 Portuguese received a permanent residence permit (‘settled status’), 168,410 a provisional permit (‘pre-settled status’) and 47,630 had their applications rejected or invalidated.
The number of applications is not equivalent to the number of Portuguese residents in the UK, as some are repeated due to the need to appeal or to change from provisional to permanent status.
The decline in Portuguese immigration to the UK is part of a decrease in immigration of European citizens in general, who only accounted for 12% of the 1.1 million foreigners registered by the British Ministry of Employment in the 12 months to June 2023.
Since 2021, European citizens have no longer benefited from freedom of movement in the United Kingdom, following the country’s exit from the European Union, a process known as ‘Brexit’ triggered by a referendum in 2016.
The British government has since imposed new, stricter rules, with Europeans being subject to a new system that requires them to meet certain conditions, such as an employment contract, minimum wage and knowledge of the English language.
The new situation has resulted in a sharp increase in non-European immigration to the UK, which soared 45% in the 12 months to June 2023 to 961,191 registered with British social security, particularly from India, Nigeria, Pakistan and China.
As a result of the influx of refugees due to the Russian invasion that began in 2022, Ukraine was the nationality with the third highest number of registrations (75,000) in the 12 months to June 2023, a sharp increase from the 1,900 registered in the 12 months to June 2019.
