EU Migration to UK Falls to Lowest Level in 16 Yrs

Net immigration from the European Union (EU) to the UK fell to a 16-year low, as the number of arrivals continued to fall.

According to data released by the Office for National Statistics in Britain on Thursday, the net number of immigrants (the difference between the number of immigrants and the number of departures) to the United Kingdom reached 212 thousand people in the year ending last June.

Also, there are about 609 thousand people moved to the United Kingdom in the twelve months ended last June in exchange for 397 thousand people, who left the country with the second largest European economy.

The data attributed the decline to the fact that fewer migrants moved to the UK for employment opportunities.

The net number of EU immigrants to the UK in the year ending in June was estimated at 48 thousand, the lowest since the 2003, 15 thousand migrants.

The number of EU immigrants to the UK fell to 199,000 the lowest level since 2013. Up to 151,000 Europeans preferred to leave the UK in the same period.

The EU's net immigration peaked at 219,000 in March 2015, but has since been declining on the back of the Brexit referendum and related negotiations.

By the end of today's trading the Pound sterling was steady against the USD at $ 1.2917.