In numbers: Bulgaria and Romania immigration

As 2014 dawns, restrictions on the number of people from Romania and Bulgaria allowed to work in the UK will be lifted.

• Bulgaria and Romania joined the European Union in 2007
• Restrictions on the number of people from these countries allowed to work in the UK will be lifted on January 1 after seven years
• Almost 100,000 have already taken the chance to work in the UK (ONS)

• When Poland joined the EU in 2004 there were no restrictions in place and more than 400,000 made the move (Home Office, Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue & Customs and Communities and Local Government, Accession Monitoring Report)

• UK is 11th on list of where Romanians tend to move (IOM 2011)
• Combined population of Bulgaria and Romania is 29 million compared to 39 million in Poland
• 6.5 million Romanians aged between 20 and 39 and 0.35 million Bulgarians - the group which tends to make the shift but 46% of have already gone