England’s immigration hotspots: Up to one in 22 residents in some boroughs are international migrants who came here in 2023, analysis suggests… so what is the figure in YOUR area?

Up to one in twenty residents in parts of England are immigrants who came to the country last year, MailOnline analysis suggests.

Middlesbrough – home to roughly 150,000 people, according to official estimates – saw an influx of just shy of 6,800 international migrants in 2023. 

That implies international migration last year alone accounted for roughly 4.4 per cent of the town’s total population. 

Coventry (4.3 per cent) and Newham in London (3.9 per cent) logged similarly high figures. 

Sky-high levels of immigration meant some parts of the capital welcomed up to 240 more residents into each square kilometre last year, heaping even more pressure on housing, schools and the struggling NHS. 

Out of all 318 districts across England and Wales, only South Holland and the Isles of Scilly saw a higher number of international emigrants than immigrants in the year to mid-2023.

This figure, collated by the Office for National Statistics, reflects people immigrating from outside of the UK. 

Movement around the UK – known as internal migration – is recorded separately. 

The ONS cautions there might be some overlap in the data, although it is unclear by how much because of the difficulties in examining population flow.

For example, the same person could be classed as both an international immigrant and internal emigrant. They could also die, further confusing the picture. 

Birmingham logged the biggest net gain last year in international migrants, becoming home to nearly 25,000 non-UK citizens. 

Given the West Midlands city has a population of 1.2million, however, the effects of international migration aren’t as stark as they are in Middlesbrough.

The City of London technically had the highest share of its current population down to international migration in 2023 (20.8 per cent) – although it is home to fewer than 20,000 people.

Government statistics yesterday revealed the population of England and Wales grew by 610,000 in the space of a year.

The increase was the biggest since 1948, when people were returning to the country following the end of the Second World and there was a baby boom. 

Official data showed numbers hit 60.9million by the middle of 2023.

Net international migration stood at 622,000, equivalent to the combined population of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Milton Keynes combined. 

Yet the ‘natural change’ in the population effectively ground to a halt, with only 400 more births registered than deaths – the lowest since the late 1970s.

The ONS figures will heap pressure on Sir Keir Starmer to make good on his promise to bring down immigration.

Following their landslide election win, Labour immediately vowed to tackle the small boats crisis with its Border Security Command to counter trafficking gangs and people smugglers. 

Former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s plan to send migrants to Rwanda was canned, however.

Labour has pledged to reform points-based immigration system and adopt workforce training plans for health, social care and construction to avoid the UK’s reliance on foreign labour.