UK net migration up 21%

Net migration rose by 21% last year, with 239,000 more people arriving in the UK than those leaving, the Office for National Statistics has revealed.

In 2009, the total for net migration had stood at 198,000.

The government has pledged to reduce net migration to the "tens of thousands" by 2015. As part of that drive, the number of skilled workers from outside the European Economic Area who are allowed into the UK each year is being capped. This is evident primarily in the Tier 2 (General) visa category.

ONS estimates put long-term immigration in 2010 at 575,000, up slightly from 567,000 the year before.

But the long-term emigration figure saw a sizeable drop from 371,000 two years ago to 336,000 - the lowest level for six years.

"It's emigration that is, in a sense, the problem for the government at the moment," said BBC home affairs correspondent Danny Shaw.

"Work is the main reason why people leave the UK, and the numbers of people leaving the UK for work reasons is down considerably.

"So what it would seem is that the economy in the rest of the world [and the] lack of opportunities for jobs elsewhere is actually making people not want to leave Britain."

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