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Treasury;Office for National Statistics

Answer

Mr. Lilley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish figures showing the (a) population density and (b) inflow of migrants in the most recent available year in each country of the EU. [80707] Ruth Kelly: I have been asked to reply. The information requested is the responsibility of the National Statistician. I have asked him to reply. Letter from L. Cook to Mr. P Lilley, dated 20 November 2002: As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question concerning the population density and the number of migrants for each country in the European Union. (80707) The attached table, provided by Eurostat, the Statistical Office of the European Commission, shows the population density and the number of immigrants in each country in the European Union. The immigration figures shown in the table are provided by the member states and are based on national definitions. Differences in the definition of migrants by different countries can be very great. These differences mean that it is hard and occasionally misleading to draw conclusions about the comparative scale of migration in the countries concerned. Table 1: Population density and number of immigrants, European Union countries _________________________________________________________________________________________________. Country Population density1 (Persons per sq. km) Number of immigrants2 (Thousands) Austria 97.1 81.7 Belgium 337.7 368.5 Denmark 124.6 52.9 Federal Republic of Germany 230.9 841.2 Finland 17.1 16.9 France 5109.1 357.8 Greece 80.5 412.6 Ireland 55.3 46.2 Italy 192.5 3185.1 Luxembourg 172.6 11.8 Netherlands 5475.2 132.9 Portugal 5112.5 518.4 Spain 80.1 362.5 Sweden 21.7 58.7 United Kingdom 246.6 364.4 _________________________________________________________________________________________________. 1 The population density figures are as of 1st January 2002 2 The number of immigrants are for the year 2000 unless otherwise shown 3 The figures are for the year 1999 4 The figures are for the year 1998 5 Figures are provisional Note: The definitions and data sources used to record immigration vary greatly across the countries of the European Union Source: Eurostat

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

394 c131-2W;394 c129-30W; 80707

Session

2002-03

Subjects

EU countries Immigration Distribution Population Migration EU immigration

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk