Pakistanis eighth highest number of non-British nationals living in UK

LONDON: The number of non-UK born citizens living in the country has risen once again, with Pakistanis becoming the eighth most common non-British nationality in the UK, official figures show.

The number of Pakistani nationals living in the UK in 2017 was estimated to be around 188,000. The figure of 188,000 doesn’t add in the figure of around 1.4 million British Pakistanis or Pakistani origin British nationals. The figure of 188,000 consists of those Pakistanis who are living in the UK on Pakistani passports.

Figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the top 20 most common non-British nationalities in 2017 included

1 - Poland 1,021,000; 2 - Romania 411,000; 3- Republic of Ireland 350,000; 4 - India 346,000; 5 - Italy 297,000; 6 - Portugal 235,000; 7 - Lithuania 199,000; 8 - Pakistan 188,000; 9- Spain 182,000; 10 - France 181,000. The top 10 countries were followed in order by Germany 154,000; China 147,000; United States 133,000; Latvia 117,000; Australia 87,000; and Bangladesh 84,000.

Polish remained the most common non-British nationality, with an estimated one million in the UK. Romania has overtaken the Republic of Ireland and India to move from fourth to second place in the list.

Some 350,000 Irish nationals lived in the UK in 2017, while there were around 346,000 Indians. The figures, from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), show the total number of non-British nationals living in the UK in 2017 was 6.2 million, up 4% on 2016's total of six million.

Nicola White of the ONS migration statistics division said: "Non-UK born and non-British populations continued to increase in 2017, as more people continued to come to the UK to live than move to live abroad for a year or more.

The figures show that 3.8 million (61%) of the 6.2 million non-British nationals living in the UK in 2017 held EU nationality. London had the largest proportion of non-British nationals in 2017, with the highest numbers in the local authorities of Newham (38%), Westminster (36%) and Brent (34%).

The ONS said its data is based on a survey of households and does not cover most people living in communal establishments, some NHS accommodation, or students living in halls of residence who have non-UK resident parents.