The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) has published a new report on the fiscal impacts of immigrants to the UK. The study is a follow-up to the Home Office report which generated the £2.5 billion net contribution figure that is often cited.
The IPPR study, Paying their way: The fiscal contribution of immigrants in the UK, is based on original analysis using data from the Labour Force Survey and the Office of National Statistics.
The IPPR said “this is a first step in understanding the true economic impacts of immigration but we hope that the results provide some corrective for the belief that immigrants are a drain on the public purse.” The evidence shows that immigrants are paying more into the public purse over time and compared to their UK-born counterparts.
The report found:
- Total revenue from immigrants grew in real terms from £33.8 billion in 1999-00 to £41.2 billion in 2003-04 (this 22 per cent increase compares to a 6 per cent increase for the UK-born);
- Immigrants made up 8.7 per cent of the population but accounted for 10.2 per cent of all income tax collected (2003-04);
- Immigrants earn about 15 per cent more in average weekly income than UK-born;
- Each immigrant generated £7,203 in government revenue on average in 2003-04, compared to £6,861 per non-immigrant;
- Similarly, each immigrant accounted for £7,277 of government expenditure on average, compared to £7,753 per non-immigrant.
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Coverage of the report is also on the Guardian.
