Brexit at 10: UK sees shift in migration, trade and economic growth

Ten years after voters backed Brexit, the United Kingdom has undergone significant demographic and economic changes, with immigration patterns shifting sharply away from Europe while growth and trade performance remain under scrutiny.

One of the most notable changes has been migration. Before the 2016 referendum, most net migration came from European Union countries. Since Brexit and the end of free movement, EU migration has fallen dramatically, while arrivals from non-EU countries have surged. Net migration from non-EU nations peaked at more than one million in 2023, even as migration from the EU turned negative, meaning more EU citizens left Britain than arrived.

The departure of European workers was led by Polish and Romanian nationals, whose numbers declined steadily in the years following the referendum amid changing immigration rules, the COVID-19 pandemic and improved economic conditions in their home countries.

Economically, Britain avoided the immediate crisis predicted by some Brexit opponents, but growth has increasingly lagged behind countries such as the United States and Canada since the early 2020s. The UK also fell slightly behind the EU in economic growth in recent years after an initial post-pandemic rebound.

Trade patterns have also shifted. Goods exports to the EU have declined since 2016, while imports from the bloc remained relatively stable, widening Britain's goods trade deficit with its largest trading partner. Although exports to non-EU markets failed to fully offset the decline, strong growth in services exports helped boost overall UK exports.

Despite that increase, imports have grown at a faster pace, leaving the UK with a larger overall trade deficit than before Brexit.

The UK formally left the European Union in January 2020, more than three years after the referendum that reshaped the country's political and economic landscape.