Migration of Poles to UK slows

Number of Polish workers registering to work in the United Kingdom has fallen to the lowest level as the Polish economy improves and the exchange rate between the pound and złoty narrows.

The number of workers, from A8 countries that joined the European Union in 2004, registered with the Home Office fell by almost 15 percent to fewer than 45,000 in the first few months of 2007, according to official figures published on Tuesday. In March, that number was 12,000, which was half the monthly figure reported in October 2006.

However, the figures only reveal the inflow of registered workers and don't take into account numbers of temporary workers that might have returned home.

Some 840,000 workers have been registered with the Home Office, while some predict the inflow of migrant workers could be as high as two million. However, that figure has declined on a year-to-year basis.

Last month, the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) said that an estimate of one million A8 migrant workers arrived in UK, but half of that number have already left the UK.

"A significant proportion of migrants that have returned home say that the time they chose to go home was pre-planned," stated the report. Sixteen percent said they always intended to return home after they earned enough abroad.

Polish migranns that have returned home are citing family connections as their reason for return. "We believe that the proportion of migrants that will stay in the UK in the long term is likely to be at the lower end of the range of predictions," states the report.

With the Polish economy strengthening, some worry in the UK that the jobs Poles filled across the country will be left empty, possibly causing problems for certain industries.