NEARLY 30,000 more EU migrants came to Britain in the year leading up to the Brexit referendum than previously thought, official figures revealed yesterday.
The Office for National Statistics announced it had under-estimated levels of EU migration to the UK since 2016.
The number of new arrivals from the EU was actually 16 per cent higher than published figures – meaning 209,000 more migrants from the bloc arrived than left in the year ending March 2016.
Most of the extra influx came from the central and eastern European (EU8) countries such as Poland, Hungary and Czech Republic.
The revision means that one in six more EU migrants came to Britain at the time of the 2016 Brexit referendum.
The ONS said it had not yet calculated how many more EU citizens had arrived since 2016. Experts estimated that net EU migration could be 240,000 higher than originally estimated.
But at the same time the ONS said it had over-stated the number of migrants arriving from outside the EU in the same period.
Some 25,000 fewer non-EU migrants arrived than previously thought – driven primarily by an over-estimated number of Asian incomers.
Immigration experts at the University of Oxford said the latest ONS analysis showed official data has been “systematically under-estimating net migration from EU countries”.
'EXPERIMENTAL STATISTICS'
Jonathan Portes, Professor of Economics and Public Policy at King’s College London, said: “These developments also further illustrate the foolishness of the government’s net migration target.
"It was always a mistake to base policy on important issues like the visa system for skilled workers and students on arbitrary and inaccurate numbers rather than the needs of the UK economy.”
In an announcement on Wednesday the ONS said: “In the year ending March 2016 – the latest point at which we have adjusted data available – EU net migration is around 16% higher than our published estimate.
“In the year ending March 2016, net migration is around 13% lower than our published estimate.”
The ONS added “Our research has clearly shown that no single source of data can fully reflect the complexity of migration.
“However, when we look at all available sources together it provides a much clearer picture.
“Whilst we go through this transformation journey, we have sought to re-classify our migration statistics as ‘experimental statistics’ in line with Office for Statistics regulation guidance.”
Official statistics can be labelled as “experimental” when they are going through development and do not yet meet the quality standards required of “national statistics”.
“National statistics” are expected to meet a set of requirements including a high degree of accuracy and reliability.
The ONS said it hopes to seek “re-designation to national statistics status” next year.
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