Nearly one in five people living in the UK were born in a foreign country, and the foreign-born share of the population has risen faster here than in any other developed nation, according to a study by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The OECD found that the foreign-born share of the UK’s population rose from 13% in 2015 to 19% in 2025, an increase of 4.6 million people. This is the biggest increase of any leading economy over the same period.
Migration crackdown watered down
The finding was published after Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood was forced to water down her migration crackdown. She had wanted to make it harder for legal migrants to claim indefinite leave to remain, which entitles them to claim benefits and access public services in a similar way to British citizens.
However, she announced earlier this month that 300,000 foreign care workers would be exempt from the changes.
OECD attributes spike to care worker recruitment
British efforts to recruit more care workers from overseas led to “a spike in migration”, according to the OECD. However, this has ended, and migrant numbers fell in 2025.
The proportion of foreign-born people living in developed countries is 12% according to the OECD, although one in three people are foreign-born in Australia and Switzerland, while more than half the population of Luxembourg are migrants.
Top migrant origins and destinations
The five countries sending the highest number of migrants to the UK last year were India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Zimbabwe and China. The most popular destinations for British people leaving the country were Spain, the United States, Australia, Portugal and New Zealand.
More than 18% of migrants living in the UK work in health.
