Nearly three and a half million foreign-born people are claiming welfare benefits in Britain, according to official data obtained by the Centre for Migration Control.
Despite longstanding attempts to convince the public that mass migration would benefit the British economy, millions of migrants are draining public finances through universal credit and other welfare schemes.
According to data from the Department for Work and Pensions published in July, 1.26 million foreign citizens are receiving universal credit, a monthly welfare payment for working-age people to help cover housing, childcare, and other costs. By law, migrants become eligible to receive the same benefits as UK citizens after they obtain residency or refugee status in Britain.
This only represents a partial picture of the true scale of welfarism among the immigrant population, with figures from the Labour Force Survey conducted between April and June obtained by the Centre for Migration Control revealing that a further 623,377 foreign citizens are taking advantage of other forms of state benefits such as disability, childcare, housing, pension and others, The Times of London reported.
However, the combined figure of 1.88 million foreign citizens also provides an incomplete picture of the impact of migration on the welfare state, with the survey finding that an additional 1.5 million people on benefits are foreigners who have obtained British citizenship, bringing the total to around 3.4 million.
Furthermore, the Labour Force Survey is known to consistently underestimate the number of people on the dole, with a recent Department for Work and Pensions review stating that there has been a “long-standing undercount” of benefit receipts, suggesting the actual figure is likely to be higher still.
Welfare benefits for foreigners have significantly sapped the UK’s public finances. Disregarding other forms of welfare benefits, the British taxpayer paid out £24.79 billion ($33bn) to non-British/Irish households in universal credit payments between March 2022 and March 2025, according to the Migration Watch think tank.
Last year alone, foreign nationals received £10.1 billion in universal credit payments, accounting for one out of every six pounds spent on the programme.
Robert Bates, of the Centre for Migration Control, said: “Those foreign nationals who arrive in Britain to work or study should not be able to access our welfare state. It is unjust that at least 1.9 million individuals who are citizens of another country are being supported by the British taxpayer.
“A properly functioning immigration system should have the sole focus of recruiting only the very best and brightest, not those who will require state support for long periods of time. A conversation about indefinite leave to remain is long overdue; many are now wondering whether it is sustainable for us to continue on this current with this antiquated system.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has vowed to restrict welfare benefits to British citizens if his party comes to power at the next election and has proposed to scrap the Indefinite leave to remain scheme, which is set to provide the millions of post-Brexit arrivals known as the ‘Boriswave’ permanent residency, and thus access to more benefits.
Commenting on the latest figures, Mr Farage said: “This outrageous cost to the taxpayer is before the Boriswave gets indefinite leave to remain. Things can only get worse.”
Indeed, a report from the Centre for Policy Studies earlier this year warned that the Boriswave cohort of migrants (those who arrived after January 2021) could cost the state £234 billion during their lifetimes. However, the think tank also noted that the bill could become “considerably” more expensive depending on how many of the migrants are granted permanent residency.
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