The foreign-born population of the United Kingdom includes immigrants from a wide range of countries who are resident in the United Kingdom. In the period January to December 2017, there were groups from 25 foreign countries that were estimated to consist of at least 100,000 individuals residing in the UK (people born in Poland, India, Pakistan, Romania, Ireland, Germany, Bangladesh, Italy, South Africa, China, Nigeria, Lithuania, France, Spain, the United States, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Portugal, Australia, Kenya, Zimbabwe, Jamaica, Ghana, Latvia and Somalia).
The foreign-born population increased from about 5.3 million in 2004 to 10.7 million in 2021. In the decade leading up to 2018, the number of non-EU migrants outnumbered EU migrants while the number of EU migrants increased more rapidly. EU citizens were noted to be less likely to become British citizens than non-EU migrants. The Office for National Statistics' provisional estimate, released in November 2025 on migration in the year ending (YE) June 2025, stated that long-term net migration in the year ending (YE) June 2025 was 204,000: non-EU+ nationals at 383,000 net migration, British nationals at -109,000, and EU+ nationals at -70,000.
At the time of the UK census conducted in April 2001, 8.3 per cent of the country's population were foreign-born. This was substantially less than that of major immigration countries such as Australia (23 per cent), Canada (19.3 per cent) and the USA (12.3 per cent). In 2005, the foreign-born population was estimated at 9.1 per cent, compared to a European Union average of 8.6 per cent. The 2011 census recorded 7,337,139 foreign-born residents in England, corresponding to 13.8 per cent of the population. The foreign-born population of Wales was recorded as 167,871 (5.5 per cent), Scotland's as 369,284 (7 per cent) and Northern Ireland's as 119,186 (6.6 per cent), making the total foreign-born population of the UK 7,993,480. Figures for each census since 1951 are given in the table below.
A 2010 estimate for the whole of the UK showed that 4.76 million people (7.7 per cent) were born outside the EU and 2.24 million (3.6 per cent) were born in another EU member state.
The Office for National Statistics produces annual estimates of the size of the UK population by country of birth, based on the Annual Population Survey. The estimates for 2018 showed that 9.3 million people (14 per cent of the usual resident population) were born abroad.
According to the 2021âÂÂ2022 United Kingdom censuses the foreign-born population was 10.7 million or 16% of the total United Kingdom, a 34% increase over the 2011 census.
The COVID-19 pandemic saw a temporary reduction in net migration. The reduction in net migration peaked at 35,000 in the year ending (YE) September 2020. This was due to a temporary reduction in immigration numbers, as in the year ending (YE) September 2020, immigration was 606,000, which was lower compared to 793,000 in the year ending (YE) September 2019. Emigration was speculated during the pandemic to have massively increased; however, emigration actually slightly decreased in the year ending (YE) September 2020 to 571,000, from 591,000 in the year ending (YE) September 2019. Subsequent analysis of the impact of the pandemic on population statistics generated by the Labour Force Survey (LFS) suggests that "LFS-based estimates are likely to significantly overstate the change in the non-UK national population". Payroll data shows that the number of EU workers fell by 7 per cent between OctoberâÂÂDecember 2019 and OctoberâÂÂDecember 2020.
According to the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford:
The table below lists the places of birth of UK residents according to the 2001 Census, as reported by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. The table also lists population estimates of the foreign-born population for the top 60 foreign countries of birth in the period January 2010 to December 2010, published by the Office for National Statistics.
In 2001, the five most common foreign countries of birth were Ireland, India, Pakistan, Germany and the United States respectively. In 2010, the most common foreign countries of birth were India, Poland (up from 18th in 2001), Pakistan, Ireland and Germany, respectively. While those born in Germany constitute one of the UK's largest foreign-born groups, many are British nationals who were born in Germany to British military personnel based there. The United States dropped to eighth place behind South Africa and Bangladesh, despite growth in the size of the U.S.-born population.
The period between 2001 and 2010 saw significant change in the UK's foreign-born population. In particular, the 2004 and 2007 enlargements of the European Union have led to mass migration from Poland, Bulgaria, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia and Lithuania. The number of Poland-born people resident in the UK increased from 60,711 in 2001 to an estimated 532,000 in the year to December 2010, whilst the population born in Lithuania increased from 4,363 to an estimated 87,000. The most significant decrease in a foreign-born population resident in the UK between 2001 and 2010 is in the number of those originating from Ireland. Whilst 533,901 people born in Ireland were resident in the UK in 2001, this is estimated to have declined to 405,000 by 2010.
In 2005 the Institute for Public Policy Research published an analysis of data from the 2001 Census, revealing the number of people included in the census who were born outside the British Isles, where they lived, and comparing this information against the 1991 Census. The results were made available on the BBC website. Note that this data refers to Great Britain only, rather than the whole of the UK, because of the lack of digital boundaries in the census data for Northern Ireland.