Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many citizens of China are resident in the United Kingdom.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority.

Professor Sir Ian Diamond | National Statistician

The Lord Empey Kt OBE

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0AA

1 May 2025

Dear Lord Empey,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Questions asking how many citizens of Russia are resident in the United Kingdom (HL6884), and how many citizens of China are resident in the United Kingdom (HL6885).

Census 2021 country of birth data is currently our best estimate of the population of England and Wales by citizenship. At the time of Census 2021, there were 56,053 usual residents in England and Wales that were born in Russia and 182,376 usual residents in England and Wales that were born in China.

In the longer term, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) aims to develop high-quality outputs using DPM (Demographic Population Model) stocks. It should deliver, in due course, a coherent stock estimate alongside population flows, enhancing the quality and reliability of population statistics.

Country of birth[1] is the country in which a person was born. This is different to nationality which is the country or countries where a person can have a legal status, although they may not reside in that country.

Country of birth does not change, except due to an international boundary change. As a person's country of birth typically does not change, it is sometimes preferable to use when analysing the UK resident population. As it remains constant across time it is a consistent measure of long-term migration and is not affected by rates of successful British citizenship applications. Statistics by country of birth are useful in understanding the longer-term contribution of international migration to the UK, including people who have moved to the UK and since changed their nationality.

While this source provides the best picture of society at a moment in time, we acknowledge that there is a need for more timely and frequent statistics at a consistent level of quality. Provisional estimates for the year ending June 2022, produced by rolling forward Census 2021 estimates and accounting for population change, were published in International migration research, progress update: November 2022[2].

The ONS will also look at the feasibility of using the Annual Population Survey (APS) for this kind of output going forward. The findings will be included in a research report to be published in May 2025. If the proposed solutions are deemed suitable by both the ONS and its users, a UK-wide population estimate will be added to the publication suite in November 2025.

The data provided in this response is for England and Wales. Northern Ireland and Scotland conduct their own censuses. Equivalent data can be obtained from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency[3] and the National Records of Scotland[4] respectively.

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/methodologies/guidanceonusingcountryofbirthnationalityandpassportshelddata#country-of-birth

[2]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/articles/internationalmigrationresearchprogressupdate/november2022

[3]https://www.nisra.gov.uk/contact

[4]https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/contact-us/