African migration to the UK
David Owen
University of Warwick, UK
Aims of the paper
• To outline trends in migration from Africa to
the UK
• To describe the living conditions of African
migrants in the UK
• To contrast migrants from different regions
of Africa
Structure of paper
•
•
•
•
The data sources used
Trends over time / types of migration
Geography of Africans in the UK
Demography and socio-economic
circumstances of Africans
• Comparative position of Africans
• Conclusion
Data sources on African migration
• The main data source used for this paper was
the Labour Force Survey for 2008 – a quarterly
random survey of 160 thousand people (data
presented is for Great Britain). This provides a
wealth of information on demography and
participation in the labour force.
• Geographical distribution from Census of
Population for 2001
• DWP National Insurance number applications;
represents people coming to UK to work
• Home Office UK Asylum statistics 2007 and
Control of Immigration Statistics 2007
Migration trends
• The LFS asks individuals the year in which they first entered the UK.
This gives an indication of the migration trend, but excludes those
who returned to Africa.
• Migration of Black-Africans to the UK started rather later than that of
Caribbean and South Asian people
• Until the late 1980s, total migration was around 5000 a year. The
total reached 20 thousand in a number of years in the 1990s.
• The number of migrants increased rapidly at the turn of the century
and remained around 30 thousand per year during this decade.
• Migration from West and Central Africa increased steadily during this
period.
• Migration from East Africa increased rapidly in the early 1990s,
afterwards falling, but increasing again after 2000.
• Migration from Southern Africa was highest around the year 2000.
Year of entry to the UK of Black Africanborn people, 1960-2007
50000
45000
40000
35000
30000
North
South
25000
East
West
Africa
20000
15000
10000
5000
20
06
20
04
20
02
20
00
19
98
19
96
19
94
19
92
19
90
19
88
19
86
19
84
19
82
19
80
19
78
19
76
19
74
19
72
19
70
19
68
19
66
19
64
19
62
19
60
0
Asylum migration
35,000
30,000
25,000
Asylum applications from Africa
• Migration for asylum was a
major factor underlying Africa
migration to the UK.
• The total number of asylum
applications from Africa
steadily increased throughout
the 1990s, peaked in 2002,
afterwards declining.
• The peak was 30.5 thousand
in 2002.
• There were still 8.8 thousand
applications in 2007
• There was a total of 171.5
thousand asylum applications
from African principal
applicants over the period
1998-2007.
20,000
15,000
10,000
5,000
0
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Asylum migration by country
• Many countries in sub-Saharan Africa have experienced
wars, civil conflict and political unrest since 1990 and
have been the source of asylum applications to the UK.
• The bulk of asylum applications are from countries
formerly colonised by the UK.
• Eastern and southern Africa was the largest source of
asylum applications.
• The largest individual source of applications was
Somalia (43 thousand), followed by Zimbabwe (21
thousand), Congo and DR Congo (both 11.5 thousand),
Nigeria (9.8 thousand) and Algeria (8.3 thousand)
Asylum applications by country
1998-2007
Asylum applications 1998-2007
0
Algeria
Angola
Burundi
Cameroon
Congo
Dem. Rep. of Congo
Eritrea
Ethiopia
Gambia
Ghana
Ivory Coast
Kenya
Liberia
Nigeria
Rw anda
Sierra Leone
Somalia
Sudan
Tanzania
Uganda
Zimbabw e
Other sub Saharan Africa
5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
40,000
45,000
50,000
Trends in asylum migration from the
largest sources, 1997-2007
• Asylum migration started in the early 1990s in Somalia, and was still
running at over 5 thousand per year in the late 1990s. It has
declined since 2002.
• Asylum applications from Sierra Leone and Algeria declined after
2000/2001.
• Asylum migration from other countries was building up in the late
1990s.
• For Zimbabwe, asylum flows peaked in 2002 at 7.7 thousand. This
year also saw peak asylum flows from DR Congo.
• There has been a steady flow of asylum applications (around 1000
per year) from Nigeria.
• Asylum migration from Eritrea steadily increased over the period
1997-2007. Asylum applications from Sudan have also been
increasing.
Trends in asylum migration from
Africa,1998-2008
9,000
8,000
7,000
Asylum applications
6,000
Algeria
Dem. Rep. of Congo
Eritrea
5,000
Nigeria
Sierra Leone
4,000
Somalia
Sudan
Zimbabw e
3,000
2,000
1,000
0
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
Migration from Africa for
employment
• The main sources of information on work-related
migration are DWP data on National Insurance number
allocations and Home Office information on work permits
issued.
• Over the period 2002-8, an average of 60 thousand NI
numbers per annum were allocated to African nationals.
• This probably overstates migration for work due to
double-counting. Nevertheless, migration for workrelated reasons now greatly exceeds asylum migration.
• The largest number of NI numbers allocated during the
financial year 2006/7 was to South Africans (17
thousand), followed by Nigerians (12.5 thousand),
Ghana (5.5 thousand) and Zimbabwe (4.1 thousand).
National Insurance numbers allocated
to African nationals, 2002-8
80
70
NI numbers allocated (000s)
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
Largest National Insurance number
allocations to African nationals 2006/7
NI num ber allocations 2006/7
0
South Africa
Nigeria
Ghana
Zimbabw e
Somalia
Kenya
Eritrea
Algeria
Tanzania
Gambia
Uganda
Egypt
Zambia
Cameroon
Morocco
Sierra Leone
Malaw i
Sudan
Congo
Libya
Ethiopia
Tunisia
Botsw ana
Cote D'ivoire
Democratic Rep of Congo
2000
4000
6000
8000
10000
12000
14000
16000
18000
Employment-related migration from
Africa, 1997-2007
• The number of people from Africa with work permits permitted to
settle in the UK steadily increased from 4 thousand in 1997 to 2002
to a peak of 15.7 thousand.
• The numbers declined slowly after 2002, but were still 10 thousand
in 2007.
• This probably reflects the rapid increase in recruitment of African
doctors and nurses by the NHS, since the bulk of admissions were
for people working for 12 months or more.
• The number of dependants admitted steadily increased,
representing a third of all grants in 1997 and around two-fifths in
2007.
• In addition, 2.5 thousand students from Africa (1331 males, 1179
females) were accepted onto UK higher education courses in 2007/8
(UCAS data).
Work permit holders and dependants
from Africa, given leave to enter the UK
1997-2007
18,000
16,000
14,000
12,000
10,000
Dependants of w ork permit holders
Employment for less than 12 months
Employment for 12 months or more
8,000
6,000
4,000
2,000
0
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Regional distribution of Black-African
people in England and Wales
•
•
•
•
•
•
Black-African people mainly live in
the southern and eastern regions
of England and Wales
Over three-quarters of BlackAfrican people born in Africa lived
in London in 2001.
Nearly half lived in Inner London.
The South-East has the second
largest number of Black African
people, but mainly in the larger
cities and towns near London.
People form West and Central
Africa are most concentrated in
London, especially Inner London.
People from South and East Africa
have a more geographically
widespread distribution than other
Africans.
Africa
North
Africa
West
and
Central
Africa
South
and
East
Africa
LONDON
77.0
57.2
83.8
69.5
Inner London
45.9
36.7
53.5
36.5
Outer London
31.1
20.6
30.3
33.0
NORTH EAST
0.6
2.2
0.5
0.7
NORTH WEST
3.5
7.3
2.8
4.2
YORKSHIRE AND THE
HUMBER
2.3
5.1
1.4
3.3
EAST MIDLANDS
2.2
2.5
1.2
3.4
WEST MIDLANDS
2.6
3.8
1.8
3.6
EAST
3.7
4.7
2.8
4.8
SOUTH EAST
5.9
12.1
4.4
7.5
SOUTH WEST
1.4
2.9
0.8
2.0
99.2
97.8
99.6
98.9
0.8
2.2
0.4
1.1
300046
9527
166271
124248
ENGLAND
WALES
ENGLAND & WALES
Geographical distribution of BlackAfrican people
Black African-born people
2001 Census of Population
24,000
12,000
2,400
North Africa
West & Central Africa
South & East Africa
Largest national origins
• In 2008, the Black African-born population of the UK was nearly 0.5
million.
• There were 6 countries from which there were 20 thousand or more
Black-African migrants present in the UK in 2008; Nigeria, Ghana,
Somalia, Zimbabwe, Uganda and Kenya.
• The largest single country of origin was Nigeria with 125 thousand
people.
• Overall, there were 855 males per thousand females among Black
African-born people.
• In the larger countries of origin, females strongly outnumbered
males, but males were strongly in the majority in many smaller
countries.
• Amongst Somalis, there were 566 males per thousand females.
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Countries of origin of African migrants
140000
120000
100000
80000
60000
40000
20000
0
Female
Male
Age and gender structure of Black Africanborn people, 2008
96
91
86
81
76
71
66
Age in years
61
56
51
46
41
36
31
26
21
16
11
6
1
10000.00
8000.00
6000.00
4000.00
2000.00
0.00
Male
•
•
•
•
•
2000.00
4000.00
6000.00
8000.00
10000.00
Female
Predominantly younger adults
Females in the majority in most age groups; but surveys find it harder to contact
males
Few older people
Few young children
Larger number of teenage children – girls strongly in majority
Age structure and geographical origins
of Black-Africans
% aged
0-15
% aged
16-24
% aged
25-44
%aged
45-64
% aged
65+
Total
North
-
-
-
-
-
1888
South
14.6
18.2
52.5
14.0
-
64897
East
13.0
24.6
45.9
13.4
-
154217
West
9.5
12.6
50.7
22.6
4.7
276063
Africa
11.2
17.1
49.3
18.7
3.7
497064
• Around half of Black-Africans were aged 25-44 in 2008.
• Those from West Africa tended to be older, with a smaller
percentage of children and young adults and a higher percentage of
older adults and pensioners.
• The youngest population was from East Africa; a quarter of whom
were young adults.
• The percentage of children was highest for East Africans.
Family structure of African migrants
North
South
East
West
Total
Single person household
-
17.7
22.2
23.2
22.1
Married couple
-
52.6
39.1
50.6
47.5
Cohabiting couple
-
-
5.6
7.1
6.2
Lone parent
-
25.8
33.1
19.0
24.2
Same sex/civil partner
-
-
-
-
-
Living with dependent children
-
62.7
66.2
61.0
62.8
1888
64897
154217
276063
497064
•
•
•
•
•
•
Overall, half of African migrants live in married couples and a further 6 per
cent as cohabiting couples.
Just over a fifth are single, and a quarter are lone parents.
Just over three-fifths live with dependent children
East Africans are least likely to be living in married couples and most likely
to be lone parents (33.1 per cent)
South Africans are most likely to be living in married couples
West Africans are most likely to be single
Labour market situation by
geographical origin
Males
Females
Economic activity
rate
Employment
rate
Unemployment
rate
Economic activity
rate
Employment
rate
Unemployment
rate
North
71.7
65.2
9.1
38.7
34.5
11.0
South
87.7
84.7
3.5
79.2
75.7
4.4
East
77.5
69.3
10.5
55.9
51.1
8.6
West
83.1
75.1
9.7
69.6
65.1
6.5
Africa
80.9
74.9
7.4
65.2
61.0
6.4
•
•
•
•
•
The economic situation of African migrants is relatively favourable.
Male economic activity and employment rates are close to average, but the
unemployment rate is relatively high.
For women, economic activity and employment rates are slightly below average and
the unemployment rate is above average.
People from Southern Africa have the most favourable economic situation, with high
activity and low unemployment rates
However, people from East Africa are least likely to be economically active and most
likely to be unemployed.
Economic activity of African migrants
by period of immigration
Economic activity rate
Employment rate
Unemployment rate
1970-1989
78.9
69.0
12.6
1990-1999
72.4
62.3
14.0
2000 onwards
61.0
53.2
12.8
• The economic activity rate in 2008 is much higher for migrants who
arrived between 1970 and 1989 than for more recent migrants.
• Those arriving in the 1990s are more likely to be economically active
and in work than those who arrived after 2000
• Just over half of post-2000 migrants are in employment and an
eighth of those economically active are unemployed
Economic activity of Africans by age
• Economic activity rates
increase with age
• A high percentage of
economically inactive
younger people are in
education
• Economic activity rates
are highest for people in
their thirties
• Men are more likley than
women to be
economically active
Male
35000
30000
25000
20000
Inactive
ILO unemployed
In employment
15000
10000
5000
0
16-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-64
65-69
70+
Female
40000
35000
30000
25000
Inactive
20000
ILO unemployed
In employment
15000
10000
5000
0
16-19
20-24
25-29
30-34
35-39
40-44
45-49
50-54
55-59
60-64
65-69
70+
Educational qualifications of
African migrants
North
South
East
West
Africa
Degree or equivalent
-
16.9
15.5
28.7
23.2
Higher educ
-
20.1
9.1
11.4
11.8
GCE A Level or equiv
-
18.3
13.3
12.8
13.6
GCSE grades A-C or equiv
-
14.7
11.1
9.4
10.5
Other qualifications
-
23.3
25.5
27.3
26.3
No qualification
-
-
24.3
9.2
13.5
Don't know
-
-
-
-
-
1888
54810
131684
243917
432297
•
•
•
•
•
•
Overall, nearly a quarter of African migrants possess a degree or equivalent
qualification
A quarter have ‘other’ qualifications
An eighth have no educational qualifications
West Africans are most likely to have a degree or higher level qualification
East Africans are least likely to have a degree and least likely to have no
qualifications
South Africans are most likely to have higher education or A-level equivalent
qualifications – probably commensurate with associate professional (inc. nursing
occupations)
Types of job held by African
migrants
• Women tend to do associate professional and
personal service occupations
• For men, the largest occupation is elementary
occupations (26 per cent), followed by
professional and associate professional
occupations
• South Africans are more likely to be
concentrated in associate professional and
personal service occupations than other
Africans.
• West Africans are most likely to work in
elementary occupations
Occupations of African migrants
North
South
East
West
Africa
Male
Female
1: Managers and Senior Officials
-
-
-
7.0
6.3
7.6
-
2 : Professional Occupations
-
-
-
15.1
13.4
18.1
7.8
3 : Associate Professional and Technical Occupations
-
26.9
17.9
13.0
16.2
11.4
22.0
4 : Administrative and Secretarial Occupations
-
-
-
10.0
8.8
7.9
10.0
5 : Skilled Trades Occupations
-
-
-
3.9
3.7
4.4
-
6 : Personal Service Occupations
-
28.9
17.0
14.8
17.2
9.9
26.1
7 : Sales and Customer Service occupations
-
-
-
7.1
8.0
5.5
11.1
8 : Process, Plant and Machine Operatives
-
-
-
6.3
5.8
9.5
-
9 : Elementary Occupations
-
-
22.0
22.7
20.6
26.0
14.1
1522
36567
54649
160644
253381
139720
113979
Total
Conclusion
• Migration from Africa to the UK has been accelerating in
the last 20 years and the Black African-born population
has reached 0.5 million
• Economic migration is now becoming more important
than asylum migration
• The population is predominantly of prime economically
active age, and the majority are female
• The economic circumstances of the African population is
relatively favourable
• Africans are more likely to work in non-manual than
manual occupations, but over a quarter work in
elementary occupations