Written question asked by James Clappison (Conservative) on Monday, 2 February 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 4 February 2009. It was answered by Lord Brennan of Canton (Labour) on Monday, 9 February 2009 on behalf of the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster.

Migration

Question: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will rank the UK among other EU member states in terms of net migration in (a) 1997 and (b) the most recent year for which figures are available.

Answer: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated February 2009:"As National Statistician, I have been asked to respond to your question concerning how the UK ranks among other EU member states in terms of net migration in (a) 1997 and (b) the most recent year for which figures are available. (254538)""Eurostat publish net migration figures for all EU member states. These may differ from the estimates produced by individual national statistics institutes as Eurostat make adjustments to improve comparability across member states. These show that the UK had the fourth highest levels of net migration in 1997 and third highest in 2007, the latest year for which complete data are available. However care should be taken when comparing net migration estimates as a small net migration figure may mask large immigration and emigration flows."

Secondary information