OECD research shows increase in immigration actually benefits the UK

Tuesday 6 October 2015 at 2:28pm

In her speech to the Conservative Party conference today, Home Secretary Theresa May claimed the economic benefits of immigration was "close to zero":

The research Theresa May points to from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is from May 2014 states the following:

On the face of it, this appears to back up the Home Secretary's claim that the fiscal impact of immigration (the contributions paid in taxes compared to the benefits received and services used) is "close to zero".

But crucially, the same research shows that in the UK immigrant households contributed more than native-born households from 2007-2009.

Across those three years, immigrant households contributed on average £2,240 per year to the public purse, compared with £1,900 from native-born households.

It is not a huge difference but it is still significant because it suggests that an increase in immigration would increase income for the UK government by more than the cost of the increased demand on services.