Get The Facts: non-UK benefit claimants

EU migrants claim 2.5% of the UK’s employment benefits, costing the UK less than claimants coming from the rest of the world.

The most recent UK government statistics on migrants and benefits show that UK citizens claim 92.6% of UK employment benefit, non-EU citizens claim almost 5% and EU citizens from outside the UK claim 2.5%.

How much do migrants cost the UK economy?
A study by economists at University College London shows EU migrants contribute £20bn to the UK’s economy, with tax payments far outweighing welfare costs. Another study by Rapid Formations, one of the leading company registration agents in the UK, concludes EU migrants contribute £463.35 per second in revenues while only costing £408.12 per second in public expenditures.

Their study also shows EU migrants are 6.8% more likely to start a company in the UK than natural-born citizens, creating more jobs in the process.

No adverse impact on the wages and job prospects of UK-born workers
Another more recent study from the London School of Economics (LSE) shows a rapid increase in migration from other EU countries has not had an adverse impact on the wages and job prospects of UK-born workers. It found areas of Britain that have seen the biggest rises in workers from the rest of Europe have not suffered sharper falls in pay or seen a bigger reduction in job opportunities than other parts of the country.

Jonathan Wadsworth, one of the co-authors of the report, said: “The bottom line, which may surprise many people, is that EU immigration has not harmed the pay, jobs or public services enjoyed by Britons.

“In fact, for the most part it has likely made us better off. So far from EU immigration being a necessary evil that we pay to get access to the greater trade and foreign investment generated by the EU single market, immigration is at worse neutral and at best, another economic benefit.”

Sources:
London School of Economics: Brexit and the impact of EU immigration on the UK 
Guardian: UK gains £20bn from European migrants, University College London economists reveal
Rapid Formations: An investigation into the financial impact of European immigration in the United Kingdom
House of Commons Library: Statistics on migrants and benefits

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