The graph illustrates how long immigrants in the UK intended to stay between 2000 and 2008 (within 2 years, 2-4 years, and more than 4 years), and the pie chart demonstrates reasons for their migration in 2008.
As for the number of foreign people staying in the UK, that of those who planned to stay for no more than 4 years witnessed increasing trends over the period. Specifically, the figure for those onshore for two years decreased slightly from around 16,000 in 2000 to 15,000 in 2001, but it bounced to just below 25,000 in 2004, after which it practically stabilized at that level.
Similarly, those planning to reside in the UK 2-4 years dropped minimally from an initial 6,000 to 5,000 in 2001. Despite experiencing some fluctuations between 5,000 and 6,000 from 2001 to 2005, it surged to 10,000 in the last three years. In contrast, although the data on non-natives living in the UK for 4 or more years declined from 16,000 to 14,000 in the first two years, it remained at this level throughout.
As seen in the pie chart, in 2008, the highest percentage of immigrants, at 38%, moved to the UK for work, followed by that of those who relocated there to study (32%). Meanwhile, 16% of settlers went to the UK to accompany or join family, and the figures for those with no reason stated and other reasons were the least at 7% each.
Overall, a growing number of people stayed in the UK for less than four years, and most of them were in there for work and studies in 2008.