Record numbers of people are leaving Britain at the same time as immigration is slowing down, according to figures from the Office of National Statistics. The UK has seen a huge influx of immigrants since the EU expanded in 2004, allowing citizens of former Eastern Bloc countries free movement of labour. Over 683,000 eastern Europeans, mostly Poles, have applied to work in Britain. When Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU in 2007, the UK government decided to impose restrictions on their citizens seeking to work in the UK and in the first half of that year, only 17,360 arrived
The overall rate of immigration slowed considerably after that. In the second quarter of 2007, applications fell to 50,000一6,000 lower than the same period in 2006. At the same time, figures released in August 2008 suggest that the boom in immigration from eastern Europe is nor permanent. Some 16,000 people from eastern European states left the UK in 2007 after living here for more than a year.
Emigration is currently running at the highest rate since records began in 1991. In total 385,00C
people quit the UK in 2007, as the trend was accelerated by a rise in foreigners returning to their home countries.