A compact briefing on how migrants participate in the UK labour market, their sectors, pay, job types and interactions with benefits
This briefing summarizes core evidence on the role of migrants in the UK labour market, presenting headline figures on jobs, sectors, pay and contractual patterns. By December 2026, one in five employee roles were held by people who were non-UK nationals when they first registered for a National Insurance number: 20% (about 6.5 million employee roles), up from 12% in July 2014 (3.5 million).
A slightly different measure—employees who were adult non-UK citizens in December 2026—was 19% (5.9 million), reflecting that some migrants hold multiple jobs. The figures here intentionally separate measures based on nationality at registration, country of birth, and employment status to make clear how different definitions produce different snapshots of the labour market.
Who works where and how has that changed?
Sectoral patterns vary strongly by migrants’ origin. In December 2026, a quarter of jobs held by adult non-EU nationals were in the health and care sector, a rise from 22% in February 2026 driven in part by policy changes such as making care roles eligible for Skilled Worker visas (about 161,000 such visas to non-EU care workers had been granted by the end of 2026).
By contrast, EU-origin employees were more evenly spread across administrative services, retail and manufacturing: over a third of jobs for EU8 nationals were in retail or manufacturing. Regionally, London shows the largest concentration, with 43% of employee jobs held by non-UK nationals and as much as 64% of hospitality roles in the capital filled by non-UK employees.
Recent nationality trends and regional shifts
Nationality flows since January 2026 have changed the composition of the migrant workforce: non-EU citizens became the main source of growth after the post‑Brexit immigration system began. Between January 2026 and December 2026, the biggest absolute increases were among employees from India and Nigeria, while numbers of employee jobs for EU8 and EU2 nationals declined by 16% and 7% respectively. In some UK regions — notably Wales, Northern Ireland and the South West — around a third of employee jobs held by adult non-EU nationals were in health and care, underscoring strong regional variation in demand and recruitment patterns.
Employment rates, unemployment and benefits
Labour market participation also differs by gender, origin and visa pathway. In 2026 the employment rate for working-age migrant men was higher than for UK-born men (83% versus 77%), while migrant women had an employment rate slightly below UK-born women (72% versus 73%). EU-born women recorded higher rates (79%) than non-EU-born women (69%). The gender employment gap is widest for people born in South Asian countries (excluding India), where women’s employment rates were 35 percentage points lower than men’s. Unemployment trends have broadly mirrored economic cycles: after the 2008 spike, unemployment fell between 2012 and 2019, rose with the COVID‑19 downturn, and increased again between 2026 and 2026.
Universal Credit and access to support
Interactions with social security vary by immigration status. In December 2026, 13% (about 1.1 million) of Universal Credit recipients aged 16 and over were non-UK and non-Irish nationals at the time they registered for a National Insurance number. For the year ending March 2026, the Department for Work and Pensions paid £65.4 billion in Universal Credit: roughly 10% (£6.25bn) went to households with at least one EEA-national claimant and 8% (£5.31bn) to households with at least one non-EEA claimant. Temporary immigration restrictions such as No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) limit benefit access for many migrants, though those with refugee status, settlement, or specific schemes (for example certain arrivals from Ukraine) can claim Universal Credit.
Occupation, pay and working conditions
Overall occupational patterns show that migrants are slightly overrepresented at both the high and low ends of the skill distribution, while most workers—migrant and UK‑born—are in middle-skilled roles such as associate professionals and administrative jobs. Nearly 60% of workers born in North America and Oceania were in high‑skill occupations in 2026 (IT specialists, teachers, managers), while EU8 and EU2 workers had a much smaller high‑skill share (just over 20%) and were more concentrated in low-skill roles like cleaning and packing. On earnings, annualised median pay for employees who were EU or non-EU nationals when they registered was slightly higher than for UK nationals: nationals of English-speaking countries top the list, with Australians (£53,700), New Zealanders (£51,900), Americans (£48,200) and Canadians (£48,100). Among larger groups (>100,000 jobs) Irish employees had the highest median earnings, while Bangladeshi and Pakistani employees had the lowest.
Working conditions differ too: around a quarter of non-UK-born employees did shift work versus 17% of UK-born, and 10% of migrants worked night shifts compared to 5% of UK-born employees. Migrants were somewhat more likely to hold non-permanent contracts or zero-hours agreements; about a third of migrants on zero‑hours worked in social care or as wait and bar staff. Overqualification—where highly educated workers are employed in jobs requiring lower formal qualifications—was more common among migrants, particularly those born in South Asian countries (excluding India). Only migrants born in North America, Oceania and EU14 countries were less likely than the UK‑born to be overqualified.
Limitations and acknowledgements
The evidence here draws on cross‑sectional sources such as the Annual Population Survey and HMRC PAYE RTI, which cannot track individual trajectories over time, so the degree of upward mobility after arrival is not directly observable in these datasets. Aggregate occupational categories are imperfect proxies for job skill and conditions. Thanks to Michael O’Connor for comments on an earlier version. This briefing was originally produced with support from the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and updated in 2026 and 2026 with the support of Trust for London.
