Immigration to Britain Witnessed Biggest Fall in 20 Years

Immigration into Britain saw the deepest dip in 20 years, the official figures revealed. In 2011, 536000 foreigners migrated to live in UK, which is 42000 lower than in 2010. This drop is said to be the biggest and deepest because immigration dropped down by 61000 during the recession of 1991.

Numbers of people entering UK were lowest since the year 2004 when thousands of European workers were permitted to work here. The basic reason why this number sank was because of the dramatic reduction in the number of people coming on student visas. In terms of percentage, the net immigration figure went down by 25 percent from 242000 to 183000. The number of students who come for joining courses in UK colleges sank by 67 percent. In the meanwhile, the students coming down for English Language schools dropped by 76 percent. Nevertheless, the foreign students who go to UK varsities increased by 1 percent.

Ministers of UK called this drop as a crucial step towards achieving the aim of government in reducing immigration to what it was in 1990s.