EU net migration to UK falls after 2016 Brexit vote

Following peak levels of over 200,000 in 2015 and early 2016, the European Union (EU) net migration to Britain has declined and stands at 64,000 in the year ending September 2019, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said.

In the year ending September 2019, there are 196,000 EU citizens arrived to live in Britian, while 133,000 left, said the ONS in a report.

Meanwhile, the number of people moving to Britain from outside the EU is now at its highest level on record, said the ONS.

In the 12 months to September 2019, an estimated 379,000 people moved to the country from outside of the EU, the highest number since records began in 1975. Net migration from nations not in the EU also reached its highest level since 2004, with an estimated 240,000 more people arriving than leaving, said the ONS.

During the same period, the number of migrants coming to Britain to study overtook those coming to work for the first time since 2012.

Chinese students account for almost a third of the non-EU immigrants at nearly 120,000, up 20 percent in a year, followed by Indian students whose numbers nearly doubled to 37,450 last year.

"Immigration for study has gone up and is now the main reason for migration. This is driven by more non-EU students arriving, specifically Chinese and Indian," said Jay Lindop, director of the Center for International Migration at the ONS.