Britain leads world when it comes to migration concerns, major poll finds

People in Britain are more likely than those in any other country to name immigration as their top concern, new polling has found, with media coverage and limited access to reliable data contributing to rising anxiety.

A new worldwide poll has found that just over one in five (21 per cent) Britons have named immigration as their top concern, displaying a level of concern far higher than any other country in the world.

By comparison, the Netherlands and Cyprus, the countries with the second highest amount of concern, only saw 13 per cent of those surveyed citing immigration as their top issue.

The poll, conducted by US firm Gallup, found a median of just 1 per cent across 107 countries cited immigration as their biggest issue.

Despite the higher proportion of concern, Gallup there is “no clear relationship with the proportion of foreign-born residents” and countries where at least 5 per cent of adults cite immigration as the top issue.

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Data shows the UK has a similar percentage of its population born overseas (17 per cent) as the US (15 per cent), Norway (18 per cent) and the Netherlands (16 per cent), but adults in those countries are less likely to name immigration as the most important national problem.

It said that the prominence of immigration in the news in recent months could have affected Britain’s attitude, while political affiliations also appear to have impacted concerns.

Almost half of Reform UK supporters (48 per cent) say immigration is the biggest problem facing the UK, twice the percentage among supporters of any other major political party across Europe.

Conservative Party supporters are more concerned (23 per cent) than other right-of-center parties in Europe, and Labour Party supporters also express more concern (16 per cent) than almost any other left-of-center political party.

The government has pledged to drive down illegal migration to the UK, amid plans to overhaul Britain’s indefinite leave to remain system.

Research found that those who are not affiliated to any political party are also more likely to prioritise immigration concerns, as were adults aged 55 and over.

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Britons with less education and those who are “getting by” on their household income were also more likely to name immigration as a top concern.

In Britain, concerns over immigration were statistically tied with mentions of the economy (23 per cent), but in no other country was immigration a top issue.

Meanwhile, more people around the world cited problems related to the economy (23 per cent), work (10 per cent), politics (8 per cent), or safety and security (7 per cent) as the most important issues facing their country.

In December, the influential Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford found that a lack of data on migration was leaving the public in the dark about the true impact of immigration on the UK.

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Steve Smith, CEO of Care4Calais, warned that the information vacuum could be manipulated, saying: “The public debate on migration is full of politically motivated rhetoric, and almost entirely devoid of facts. It’s a dangerous situation that is undoubtedly inflaming hate and bolstering far-right actors.”

Research published by the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford said the government does not know how many people are in the country unauthorised and has inadequate information about what happens to asylum seekers before or after they make their first claim.

There is also little data on the number of immigration cases that are affected by the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), leaving public debate starved of vital information, academics warned.