Warning of fresh economic hit from Brexit 'brain drain'

The UK’s faltering economy risks worsening due to a steep fall in the number of people moving to the UK for work, exacerbated by Brexit, experts have warned.

- KATE DEVLIN MILLIE COOKE DAVID MADDOX

Following a warning that the UK is already experiencing a “dangerous” brain drain of some of the UK’s brightest and best, fresh figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed nine out of 10 Brits emigrating in the year to June were of working age.

Leading economists said that if the low levels of net migration – the number of people arriving in the UK versus those leaving – continue, the UK’s economic growth forecasts risk being downgraded again just days after the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) slashed predictions for next year and the three years after that.

It comes after the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) yesterday sounded an alarm that a slowing in labour productivity, partly due to a drop in the number of workers coming to the UK, was stalling the economy.

The Independent can also exclusively reveal warnings from a senior executive at one of the world’s leading recruitment companies that the brain drain from the UK because of Brexit is worse than previously believed.

It places more pressure on Rachel Reeves, days after she unveiled a Budget that the OBR said contained no measures which would have a “material effect” on growth, but did raise £26bn in taxes.

The ONS figures show that net migration to the UK has fallen by two-thirds in a single year, driven by a huge drop in people coming to Britain for work or study, following a crackdown started by the last Conservative government but continued under Labour.