The OECD’s definition of “permanent-type” migration typically includes workers and their relatives, but not students or refugees from Ukraine, who are considered temporary residents.
In the UK’s case, the OECD said “family migration soared, with 373,000 new family migrants in 2023, a 60pc increase compared to 2022. Seventy percent of family migrants in the United Kingdom were accompanying family members of labour migrants. The health and care visa for accompanying family members accounted for the bulk of the increase.”
New care workers using this visa can no longer bring relatives, as of March this year.
Separate figures published earlier this week showed that 7m foreign-born workers were now employed in the UK, a record high. Conversely, the number of British-born people in work is still more than 800,000 below its pre-Covid level.
The sharp rise in migration to the UK comes as immigration across the rich world reaches record highs, the OECD said, with sweeping political ramifications. The think tank said 6.5m people moved permanently to the OECD’s 38 nations last year, a figure that does not include asylum seekers and temporary migrants.
“Not only have 6.5m permanent migrants arrived in the last year, but the number of temporary migrants and asylum seekers has skyrocketed,” the think tank said.
“These high flows have fuelled widespread concern about migrants’ impact on receiving countries’ economies and societies, putting migration management and border control at the top of political agendas and the centre of voters’ interests in 2024 elections.”