The number of Portuguese who moved to the UK last year dropped 26% compared to the year before in what is believed to be a direct consequence of people’s fears about Brexit.
Data from the UK Department of Labour and Pensions shows that emigration levels from Portugal to the UK have been falling sharply since June 2016 when UK voters chose to leave the European Union.
Last year’s figures were the lowest since 2013 and Portugal only accounts for 3.3% of the nearly 683,000 foreigners who moved to the UK during 2017.
Portugal’s Emigration Observatory says that the reduced number of Portuguese moving to the UK seems to be motivated by “fears created by Brexit”.
But the tendency is not exclusive to Portugal.
The total number of people moving to the UK fell 17.2% while the drop of EU nationals calling UK their home was even sharper (-20.5%).
When he visited Portugal last year, British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said he could “not imagine” a scenario in which the 400,000 Portuguese who live in the UK would be asked to leave or have their rights jeopardised due to Brexit.
“That is unthinkable,” he told reporters.
michael.bruxo@algarveresident.com
