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The United Kingdom is experiencing the largest population decline since World War II. A study by the Center of Excellence for Economic Statistics revealed that London’s resident population could have decreased by almost 700,000 people.
Around 1,300,000 foreigners have left the country between the third quarter of 2019 and the same period of 2020. In other words, the United Kingdom is suffering the largest drop in population since World War II, according to data from the Center of Excellence in Economic Statistics (ESCOE).
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“There has been an unprecedented drop in the number of foreign born residents in the UK; an unprecedented exodus could be inferred, ”explained economists Jonathan Portes and Michael O’Connor. However, they added that the UK-born population has increased. “Despite the economic disruption resulting from the pandemic, the number of UK-born workers (and non-workers) reached new record levels.”
Why an unprecedented exodus?
“It is not because of the volume of work due to the coronavirus, that is the same in my country, but because of the wear and tear of not being able to visit my family, especially my grandmother, whom I am afraid of not seeing more. I have not been able to see them for almost a year and the difficulties getting in and out of the UK are increasing. I feel isolated and the pandemic is still going to last for many months, ”said Sonia, a 35-year-old doctor, to the BBC.
“I love London: its leisure, its multiculturalism, its efficiency, the opportunities it had before. But it is extremely difficult to live in this city at the moment due to the pandemic, with such a high cost of living and no income, ”Alberto Domínguez, a tattoo artist who had been in London for almost six years, told the same British media.
Portes and O’Connor explain that for many immigrants, especially those from Eastern, Central and Southeastern Europe and those who have recently arrived, “the option would have been to stay here, without work, with less or no money, and pay for relatively rented accommodation. expensive, or going home to family, with lower costs and probably less risk of contracting Covid. It is not a difficult choice ”.
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Economists say that migrants have a high probability of being employed in the hospitality sector and other service sectors that require face-to-face contact, so they have likely lost their jobs. And not only that; many universities adapted their academic programs to online education, and foreign students have likely decided not to travel to the UK or simply return to their home countries.
“But most of all, the UK has performed relatively poorly in both economic and health terms during the first wave of the pandemic,” added Portes and O’Connor. The study indicates that the greatest impact was in London; “While published statistics say that the resident population has grown throughout the year, our estimate implies that London’s resident population could have decreased by nearly 700,000 people.”
