A recent census revealed that, following Indians, Poles are the most significant national group in the UK to have been born abroad. The number of Poles living in the UK turned out to be higher than it was previously estimated. 

https://twitter.com/ONS/status/1587739984534142976?s=20&t=kCYLgZnkTHiLM6vy7uEUBg

In early November, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released the results of last year’s census in England and Wales. This data reveals among others that one in six inhabitants of England and Wales was born outside the UK. This number has increased by 2.5 million in a decade, from 7.5 million (13.4%) to 10 million (16.8%). 

Since Poland joined the EU in 2004, the number of Polish citizens in Britain has been on the rise from year to year. From 2017, the tendency changed, and these figures began decreasing progressively. ONS estimates that the Polish-born population of the UK amounted to less than 700,000 in 2020. Unofficial estimates have put the number of Poles living in the UK much higher, some at even up to one million.

Today, Polish remains the most common non-UK passport held in England and Wales, with 760.000, representing 1.3% of all usual residents. The Polish language is the second-most spoken language in England and the third-most spoken in the UK after English and Welsh. It’s estimated that over 1% of the UK population speaks Polish.

https://twitter.com/TVPWorld_com/status/1592074606927437824?s=20&t=KwXniulLYtwsLMlGpO5Mxg

How will the situation evolve? Well, here might be an indication. Earlier this month, researchers from the Universities of Middlesex, Glasgow, and Sheffield conducted a survey revealing that about one-third of Polish essential workers in the UK plan to return to their homeland. 

1,105 Polish essential workers took part in the survey. They included workers from various fields such as health and social care, transport, education and childcare, industries, and utilities and goods manufacturing among others.

Image: British Poles

Author: Sébastien Meuwissen