The UK experienced the third largest increase in net migration of any major nation in 2014, making it the third largest net recipient of migrants globally. The UK is the only country to feature within the top positions in both measures.
International migration to the UK in 2014 hit a record 558,800 – only Germany and the United States experienced a larger influx in the same 12 months.
Only the Czech Republic (38%) and Israel (36%) saw a larger year on year increase than the UK (24%).
And note: these figures were gathered before the current migrant crisis had even got going.
In contrast (and in figures unlikely to be repeated this year) the numbers arriving in Switzerland, Hungary, Australia, Norway, Italy, Slovenia, Greece and Estonia actually fell.
The figures come from the latest report by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), an influential Paris-based think tank, which counts 34 of the wealthiest countries in the world as its members. The report, “International Migration Outlook 2015,” was launched yesterday.
The report follows the shock migration figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) just two weeks ago, confirming that migration is skyrocketing and making the UK indisputably one of the biggest hotspots for migration in the developed world.
Just this year, the Tories renewed their 2015 election manifesto pledge to bring net immigration into the UK down to the “tens of thousands.”
Half a million illegal border crossings in Europe have been detected in the same period; almost double the level over the whole of 2014. According to the data, more than 330,000 migrants arrived by sea in Europe in the first eight months of 2015, including 210,000 in Greece and 120,000 in Italy.
The OECD warned that Europe should prepare for 1million people to claim asylum this year, exceeding the influx sparked by the 1990s breakup of the former Yugoslavia. But, they insisted, the continent could cope.
Ángel Gurría, the OECD’s secretary general, said at the launch of the report: “European leaders need to step up to the challenge so that Europe as a whole emerges stronger economically, socially and politically. Europe has the experience and the capacity to respond.”
UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said: “… With an average of 6,000 persons arriving every day on European shores, this requires a massive investment,’ she said. ‘Many tens of thousands of people are likely to require shelter and assistance at reception areas at any given time.”
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