Civometry

ONS · Long-term international migration 2.00, citizenship, UK (1964 to 2019)

Immigration, 1964 to 2019 (IPS-based)

2019 Final

681,000people

Immigration, 1964 to 2019 (IPS-based) was 681,000 people in 2019, up 12.7% (77,000) from 604,000 in 2018.

▲ 12.7% · +77,000 against 2018 (year on year)

  1. ONS estimate
  2. 2019
  3. published 26 November 2020
  4. Table 2.00
  5. row “2019”
  6. column “All Citizenships / Immigration”
  7. cell value 681

2019 is the highest figure in the published series: 681,000. Rule: highest of the 56 periods published here (1964 to 2019).

1964 to 2019

Immigration, 1964 to 2019 (IPS-based): 1964 to 2019ConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeLabourLabourLabourLabourCoalitionConservativeConservativeConservative0200k400k600k19701980199020002010Before: Estimates from the International Passenger Survey alone. After: Long-Term International Migration estimates, which combine the survey with other sources.methodology changeBefore: Estimates based on the International Passenger Survey, which ONS says underestimated migration of some groups. After: Estimates produced from administrative data, which supersede everything previously published for 2012 to 2021.methodology change1964: 211,000 people · published 26 November 20201965: 206,000 people · published 26 November 20201966: 219,000 people · published 26 November 20201967: 225,000 people · published 26 November 20201968: 222,000 people · published 26 November 20201969: 206,000 people · published 26 November 20201970: 226,000 people · published 26 November 20201971: 200,000 people · published 26 November 20201972: 222,000 people · published 26 November 20201973: 196,000 people · published 26 November 20201974: 184,000 people · published 26 November 20201975: 197,000 people · published 26 November 20201976: 191,000 people · published 26 November 20201977: 162,000 people · published 26 November 20201978: 187,000 people · published 26 November 20201979: 195,000 people · published 26 November 20201980: 173,000 people · published 26 November 20201981: 153,000 people · published 26 November 20201982: 201,000 people · published 26 November 20201983: 202,000 people · published 26 November 20201984: 201,000 people · published 26 November 20201985: 232,000 people · published 26 November 20201986: 250,000 people · published 26 November 20201987: 211,000 people · published 26 November 20201988: 216,000 people · published 26 November 20201989: 250,000 people · published 26 November 20201990: 267,000 people · published 26 November 20201991: 329,000 people · published 26 November 20201992: 268,000 people · published 26 November 20201993: 266,000 people · published 26 November 20201994: 315,000 people · published 26 November 20201995: 312,000 people · published 26 November 20201996: 318,000 people · published 26 November 20201997: 327,000 people · published 26 November 20201998: 391,000 people · published 26 November 20201999: 454,000 people · published 26 November 20202000: 479,000 people · published 26 November 20202001: 481,000 people · published 26 November 20202002: 516,000 people · published 26 November 20202003: 511,000 people · published 26 November 20202004: 589,000 people · published 26 November 20202005: 567,000 people · published 26 November 20202006: 596,000 people · published 26 November 20202007: 574,000 people · published 26 November 20202008: 590,000 people · published 26 November 20202009: 567,000 people · published 26 November 20202010: 591,000 people · published 26 November 20202011: 566,000 people · published 26 November 20202012: 498,000 people · published 26 November 20202013: 526,000 people · published 26 November 20202014: 632,000 people · published 26 November 20202015: 631,000 people · published 26 November 20202016: 589,000 people · published 26 November 20202017: 644,000 people · published 26 November 20202018: 604,000 people · published 26 November 20202019: 681,000 people · published 26 November 2020
Published valueProvisional or revisedLatestDashed line: change in coverage or methodShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover or use arrow keys to read a value

What this measures

The discontinued ONS estimate of the number of people moving to the UK for at least a year in a calendar year, based on the International Passenger Survey (1964 to 1990) and Long-Term International Migration (1991 to 2019), rounded to the nearest thousand.

What this doesn’t measure

Short-term visitors, or the years from 2012 on the current administrative-data basis.

Important caveat

These are the discontinued ONS Long-Term International Migration estimates, built on the International Passenger Survey (IPS), a sample survey of travellers, and rounded to the nearest thousand. ONS says "Pre-1991 estimates are IPS data only. LTIM data are shown from 1991 onwards" and that "annual estimates before 1991 use a different methodology and cannot be directly compared with more recent figures". Net migration for 2001 to 2011 was revised after the 2011 Census; the immigration and emigration figures were not, so they do not difference to the revised balance for those years. ONS's current estimates from the year ending June 2012 are produced from administrative data and, in ONS's words, "provide a more accurate picture of international migration over this period than our previously published estimates based on the International Passenger Survey (IPS), which underestimated migration of some groups"; the two series are not directly comparable and are shown as separate series with a marked break. The IPS was suspended in March 2020 and this dataset ended with 2019.

When the way this was measured changed

A series can move because the thing being measured changed, or because the way of measuring it changed. Each change below is marked on the chart, and says what the figures meant on either side of it.

January 1991 · methodology change

Before
Estimates from the International Passenger Survey alone.
After
Long-Term International Migration estimates, which combine the survey with other sources.

ONS: "Pre-1991 estimates are IPS data only. LTIM data are shown from 1991 onwards." Annual estimates before 1991 "use a different methodology and cannot be directly compared with more recent figures".

June 2012 · methodology change

Before
Estimates based on the International Passenger Survey, which ONS says underestimated migration of some groups.
After
Estimates produced from administrative data, which supersede everything previously published for 2012 to 2021.

The current ONS series (from the year ending June 2012) is produced from administrative data and, in ONS's words, "provide[s] a more accurate picture of international migration over this period than our previously published estimates based on the International Passenger Survey (IPS), which underestimated migration of some groups"; it "supersedes ... any time series previously published for the period 2012 to 2021". The two series are not directly comparable.

Revision history

No period of this series has been revised since it was first ingested here. Revisions are recorded automatically when a later release publishes a different figure for the same period.

Source

Publisher
ONS
Publication
Long-term international migration 2.00, citizenship, UK (1964 to 2019)
Release
Long-term international migration 2.00, citizenship, UK: 1964 to 2019, published 26 November 2020
Source file
2.00ltimcitizenship1964to2019.xls
File SHA-256
d448e412ae598dfeaaa2337e5c4232322b116c9b4908d3d58a9124e294f86039
Retrieved
2 September 2026
Sheet
Table 2.00
Table
Table 2.00
Row
2019
Column
All Citizenships / Immigration
Cell value
681 (× 1,000 = 681,000 people)
Geography
United Kingdom
Unit
people
API
/api/metrics/immigration_1964_2019 · /series · /vintages

Government periods

Change during each government, from the level inherited to the last complete period before it left office. Describes the period; does not attribute cause.

Conservative 2017–2019589,0002016604,0002018↑ 2.5%
Conservative 2015–2017632,0002014589,0002016↓ 6.8%
Coalition 2010–2015567,0002009632,0002014↑ 11.5%
Labour 2005–2010589,0002004567,0002009↓ 3.7%
Labour 2001–2005479,0002000589,0002004↑ 23.0%
Labour 1997–2001318,0001996479,0002000↑ 50.6%
Conservative 1992–1997329,0001991318,0001996↓ 3.3%
Conservative 1987–1992250,0001986329,0001991↑ 31.6%
Conservative 1983–1987201,0001982250,0001986↑ 24.4%
Conservative 1979–1983187,0001978201,0001982↑ 7.5%

Full comparison with chart

Release
Long-term international migration 2.00, citizenship, UK: 1964 to 2019 · publication page
Last updated
26 November 2020
Next release expected
Not yet announced (estimated from the usual cadence)