It is no surprise that the government’s numbers don’t add up

There is much upset over the news that the government underestimated by 300,000 the number of immigrants working in this country. Yet, this is hardly surprising considering the appalling quality of official statistics when it comes to migration. The International Passenger Survey, one of the key metrics that the governments uses, was based in 2004 on interviews with just 2,801 people entering the country and 755 people who left.

Britain is set to be a mass migration country for the foreseeable future. Good quality statistics are an essential part to making sure that this transition runs smoothly.