Immigration benefits UK, government report shows
Immigration contributed 6bn to Britain’s economic growth last year, according to new official figures today, prompting the government to claim Britain is better off with immigration than without it.
The Home Office figures provide the first full analysis of the impact of increased immigration in the last decade. The figures outlined in a 43-page report suggest many fears on the subject are unfounded.
It said that in 2006, 574,000 migrants came to live in the UK and that they contributed around a sixth of the total growth in the economy that year.
On average, migrants earned more than native workers and paid more tax, suggesting that they are more productive, the report said.
The report pointed out that migrants made up 9.6% of the population in 2003-04 but contributed 10% of government revenue in taxes while using only 9.1% of government expenditure in the services they consume.
The immigration minister, Liam Byrne, said: “In the long run, our country and exchequer is better off with immigration rather than without it.”
However, he conceded that in some areas increased migration has stretched services.
“In communities that do not have a history of absorbing migrants [it] has been unsettling and has created challenges for public services.”
Mr Byrne said the research would inform a government decision on whether to continue to block migrant workers from Romania and Bulgaria.
“What we need to do is strike the right balance for Britain’s national interest, starting with the decision on Bulgarian and Romanian workers a little later this year,” he said in a speech to public servants in Harlow, Essex.
Last month, three chief constables called for greater resources to cope with an influx of immigrants from eastern Europe.
Today’s report suggested that increased immigration had not increased unemployment and would reduce Britain’s dependency on the working population.
It pointed out that as the workforce ages the ratio of children and elderly people to those in work increases. Without immigration this ratio would rise to 82% by 2056. With projected increases in immigration this would rise to only 74%.
