141,000 Nigerians Have Fled to the UK in One Year as Economy Worsens 

As of June 2022, there were 141,000 Nigerian immigrants living in the United Kingdom (UK), according to the most recent data from the country’s official statistics office.

Nigeria is one of the five non-EU nationalities that the United Kingdom found to be contributing to immigration into the nation, according to the data.

“In the year ending June 2023, the top five non-EU nationalities for immigration flows into the UK were: Indian (253,000), Nigerian (141,000), Chinese (89,000), Pakistani (55,000), and Ukrainian (35,000),” stated the Office for National Statistics.

The UK government changed its immigration laws earlier this year in an attempt to reduce the country’s rapidly increasing net migration.

While the development may likely force Nigerians to seek options of study somewhere with their families, a review of the data further revealed that Nigerians studying in the UK grew from 6,798 in 2017 to 59,053 as of December 2022.

Along with the growth was the number of dependents. There were 1,586 dependents in 2019; that number rose to 60,923 the previous year.

“The non-EU figures are based on Home Office Borders and Immigration data, while EU figures are based on Registration and Population Interaction Database (RAPID) data received from the Department for Work and Pensions and HM Revenue and Customs, and British nationals’ figures are based on the International Passenger Survey (IPS),” said the UK’s Office for National Statistics.

For Nigerians, migration is not a new phenomenon. But recently, there have been many economic shocks to the Nigerian system, which has caused a large-scale migration of Nigerians abroad in search of better opportunities.