According to a report by BBC Chinese, the latest figures released by the UK government show that as of the end of 2012, the net immigration numbers to the United Kingdom have increased. Net immigration refers to the difference between the number of immigrants leaving the United Kingdom to foreign countries and the number of immigrants coming to the United Kingdom from foreign countries.
The latest figures indicate that net immigration numbers increased from 153,000 to 176,000 as of September 2012. This increase seems to reverse the trend of declining net immigration numbers in the United Kingdom. The rise in net immigration is attributed to a decrease in the number of people leaving the United Kingdom to immigrate abroad, which fell from 351,000 to 321,000 over the year ending in 2012. Data shows that during the same period, the number of immigrants entering the United Kingdom decreased from 566,000 to 497,000.
BBC's domestic affairs reporter stated that the reasons for the increase in net immigration are quite complex, partly because the number of people leaving the United Kingdom to immigrate to other countries is lower than the government's expectations. Prime Minister Cameron hopes to limit net immigration to the United Kingdom to 100,000 before the 2015 general election.
