Author Topic: Spain, the UK, Germany and Italy top European immigration tables  (Read 1912 times)

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Spain, the UK, Germany and Italy top European immigration tables

by RAY CLANCY on JANUARY 21, 2011

More people from outside of the European Union arrived to live in Spain, Germany, the UK and Italy than any other countries, according to the latest figures to be released.

The figures from Eurostat, the European Union’s statistics department, show these were the only four member states that accepted more than 100,000 immigrants in 2008, the most recent data available.

Spain had 498,900 immigrants from outside the EU, the UK 307,400, Italy 283,700 and Germany 237,900.  These four countries took more than two-thirds, 67 %, of all immigrants to any of the EU member states. France used to admit high numbers of immigrants, but it took only 89,000 two years ago.

Overall, EU member states received a total of 3.8 million immigrants in 2008, down 6% from the previous year. Italy is the main destination for hundreds of thousands of migrants and refugees from Africa and the Middle East who see it as the easiest route into Europe, and Spain is the choice for immigrants from Latin America.

The report also shows that international migration is one of the key drivers of population growth in the EU and immigrants are younger.

The figures will add to the current government policy in the UK to reduce immigrants by tens of thousands. A controversial new cap is due to start in April.


The reports show that country outside the EU from where the most people came to Britain in 2008 was India, at 47,000. A cap is regarded as the only possible form of control because EU laws demand free movement between the 27 member states.

Conservative MPs said that the new figures show the need for the Coalition government to act effectively. ‘These figures show that the Government needs to pull its finger out and get on with it. ‘People are fed up with talk. They want to see significant reductions. People will hold ministers to account for this at the next election,’ said Douglas Carswell, MP for Clacton.

Last week, a UK survey showed four out of five people want to see immigration reduced and more than half the population want to see immigration cut ‘a lot’.

The new cap is due to limit visas for less skilled workers from outside Europe to 21,700 next year, a reduction of a fifth. A consultation is also underway on how to cut the number of student visas.

‘This shows why the Government is committed to reducing net migration to sustainable levels from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands within the lifetime of this Parliament,’ said Immigration Minister Damian Green.

‘We have already introduced a limit on non-EU economic migration and throughout 2011 we will be introducing further controls across the board to affect every immigration route.  We will exert steady downward pressure on immigration numbers,’ he added.