The charts illustrate the primary reasons for people who move in and out of the UK in the year 2007. Overall, most people said that their aim to move in or out was to find a specific job, while some dramatic differences could be seen in the figures for pursuing formal education, seeking work, as well as no reasons at all.
Finding a definite job seemed to be the most popular reason for both immigrants and emigrants, with figures of around 30%. There was also a similar pattern in the figures for people whose reason for migration to and from was to accompany or visit their relatives, which were 15% and 13% respectively. Similarly, 11% of people moved into the UK for other unknown reasons, compared to 14% of those moving out.
A dramatic difference could be seen in the proportions of people who pursued academic study. While 26% of immigrants said that their reason was to have a formal education, only 4% of emigrants did so. The share of emigration, whose aim was to seek a job, far exceeded that in immigration, with the respective figures being 22% and 12%. The percentage of people who moved out of the UK for no specific reason was 18%, almost triple the figure for immigration.