Payrolled employments by nationality
Pauline Bucher, June 2026
This briefing shows the number and share of payrolled employments held by UK, EU and Rest of World nationals living in London from July 2014 to December 2025, based on HM Revenue and Customs Pay As You Earn (PAYE) and Migrant Worker Scan data. It is also supplemented by data on National Insurance Numbers (NINos) from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), which provide additional insight into overseas migration inflows in London.
Payrolled employment is a measure of jobs registered on PAYE, whether full-time or part-time. In this analysis, “employments” refers to the total number of payrolled employments held by London residents, not individual workers.
Nationality is based on the status recorded by individuals when they first registered for a National Insurance number as adults.
The three main nationality groups in this analysis are:
UK: the four countries of the United Kingdom: England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
EU: the 27 European Union member states
Rest of World (RoW): all other countries (excluding the UK and EU member states)
Please note: These figures are not directly comparable with total jobs numbers estimated from other sources. Commuters into London and self-employed jobs are not included in this analysis. For more on definitions, see the data note below.
Data note
PAYE employment data
HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has published statistics on payrolled employments in the UK by region, industry and nationality with data on the period from July 2014 to December 2025. This article explores some of the key trends for London.
Payrolled employment counts are a measure of payrolled employee jobs. A single employee may have multiple employments. Values for employee jobs are calculated based on the proportion of each month in which the employment was being worked.
Please note, the payrolled employment counts used in this article cannot be:
directly compared with payrolled employee numbers – payrolled employees can have multiple payrolled employments, so employment counts follow the same trend as employee counts, but will be higher.
directly compared with total jobs numbers – these statistics only include employments from the PAYE system, they do not include employments from non-payrolled sources such as self-employment.
used as a count of monthly or annual migration to the UK or London, or to show the number of non-UK nationals who are currently living in the UK or London.
Nationality breakdowns are determined using HMRC’s Migrant Worker Scan. Nationality is defined as that reported by individuals when they register for a National Insurance number through the adult National Insurance number registration process. This process records one nationality per individual at the point of registration. Subsequent naturalisation (to UK citizenship), other changes in nationality and multiple nationalities are not recorded.
The data has not been seasonally adjusted.
NINo registration data
The analysis also draws on Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) data on National Insurance number (NINo) allocations to adult overseas nationals. To reduce volatility, we use rolling annual registrations for the year ending March and, where relevant, averages across policy periods.
NINo statistics record the allocation of a National Insurance number to adult overseas nationals and provide a breakdown of migration inflows by nationality and world region. Nationality is recorded at the point of registration and does not reflect subsequent naturalisation, changes in nationality, or multiple nationalities. NINos are issued to overseas nationals who work, intend to work, or claim benefits in the UK, regardless of how long they intend to stay. The data do not capture departures from the UK, length of stay, or whether an individual enters employment or remains in the country after registration. In some cases, overseas nationals who register for a NINo may not subsequently enter or remain in PAYE employment. For example, some migrants arriving on sponsored work visas may experience delays in starting employment, lose sponsorship, or move between employers. During periods of job searching, some may undertake informal work that would not be captured in PAYE records. As a result, NINo registrations should be interpreted as an indicator of migration inflows and labour market intentions rather than a direct measure of employment outcomes. Information on location within the UK is based on the address given at time of National Insurance number registration.
Key points
Non-UK nationals accounted for 43% of payrolled employments in London in December 2025, up from 42% a year earlier (December 2024). However, growth in non-UK employments has stalled, while overall payrolled employment fell by 0.5% across the UK and by 0.8% in London between December 2024 and December 2025
In December 2025, 677,000 employments in London were held by EU nationals, down from a peak of 846,000 in 2019 and from 707,000 in December 2024, continuing the general downward trend associated with Brexit.
Employments held by RoW nationals continued to grow in 2025, reaching 1.3 million. However, annual growth has slowed markedly from a peak of around 16% in late 2022 to around 3% by the end of 2025, following tighter immigration policy changes and a weaker labour market.
Despite falling employments, non-UK workers remain particularly important in Hospitality, Administration, Health and Social work. Hospitality and Construction continue to have especially high shares of EU workers, while RoW workers now account for large and growing shares of employments in Health and Social Work and Hospitality.
Finance & Insurance, Professional Services and Information & Communication stayed relatively resilient in 2025. All three sectors remained above their pre-pandemic levels of payrolled employment and saw continued growth in the share of payrolled employments held by non-UK nationals, driven primarily by RoW nationals.
Supplementary NINo registration data show a substantial shift in migration inflows since Brexit. In the 2025/26 financial year, registrations from EU nationals fell by 90% from their 2010 to 2015 average, while registrations from South Asia almost doubled over the same period.
Note: policy changes
This release refers to key dates relating to EU exit and the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. These dates are:
23 June 2016: the UK held a referendum and 52% of those who voted chose to leave the EU.
31 January 2020: the UK left the EU and entered a transition period.
23 March 2020: the first COVID-19 lockdown was announced and the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme was introduced.
31 December 2020: the transition period ended and the UK left the EU single market and customs union. Free movement between the EU and the UK ended.
1 January 2021: the UK introduced a new points-based immigration system.
1 February 2022: ‘Care workers and home carers’ were eligible for Health and Care Worker visa.
January to May 2024: revisions to the UK’s points-based immigration system came into force. Among the main changes were a ban on care workers bringing dependants, an increase in the salary threshold for Skilled Worker visas (from £26,200 to £38,700), a rise in the minimum income requirement for family visas (from £18,600 to £29,000), and the replacement of the Shortage Occupation List with the Immigration Salary List. The latter removed the ability for employers to pay non-UK workers less than their UK counterparts in shortage occupations, increasing minimum salary requirements for many Skilled Worker visa applicants and potentially raising recruitment costs for employers seeking overseas talent.
12 May 2025: the Immigration White Paper to reshape immigration system was published. Changes included the closure of the care visa route, new restrictions on the Skilled Worker visa, a shortened Graduate visa, and the abolition of the Immigration Salary List. These routes are important pathways for recruiting skilled international workers and graduates into London’s high-value service sectors.
22 July 2025: changes to the Skilled Worker visa rules stated in the aforementioned Immigration White Paper came into force. The skills threshold for eligible occupations increased from RQF Level 3 to RQF Level 6 (degree level), salary thresholds increased, and overseas recruitment for social care workers ended, subject to transitional arrangements.
20 November 2025: the government launched the Earned Settlement consultation, proposing reforms to Indefinite Leave to Remain (ILR), including extending the standard qualifying period for settlement from five years to ten years which will likely decrease the the attractiveness of the UK to internationally mobile workers and graduates.
8 January 2026: further changes to the immigration rules came into force following the May 2025 Immigration White Paper, including tighter English language requirements for several visa routes. These changes may create additional barriers to entry for some prospective non-UK workers.
Overview
Migrant workers – people who were non-UK nationals when they first registered for a national insurance number – continue to play a key role in London’s labour market. The composition of non-UK workers has been changing.
In December 2025, there were 4.7 million payrolled employments in London, comprising:
57% or 2.7 million UK nationals, a fall of 46,000 from December 2024.
14% or 677,000 EU nationals, a decrease of 32,000 from December 2024. EU national employments peaked at 846,000 in November 2019, with declines following the COVID-19 outbreak and the end of free movement between the UK and EU.
28% or 1.3 million RoW nationals, up 40,000 from December 2024. The number of RoW employments rose rapidly following the introduction of the points-based immigration system in 2021, with annual growth peaking at around 16% in late 2022. However, after the system was tightened in 2024 and 2025, growth in RoW employments fell to 3% year-on-year in 2025.
By contrast, growth in total payrolled employments weakened throughout 2023–2025 and turned slightly negative in 2025, reflecting broader softening in London’s labour market. While employments held by RoW nationals continued to grow, growth slowed markedly from earlier peaks and was no longer sufficient to offset declines among UK and EU nationals.
Non-UK employments over time
Source: HM Revenue and Customs – Pay As You Earn Real Time Information
(non-seasonally adjusted) and Migrant Worker Scan.
Note:
Estimates are based on where employees live. Vertical lines indicate key
events: the Brexit vote (June 2016), start of lockdowns (March 2020),
end of free movement (January 2021), the immigration system reforms
(January 2024) and the Immigration White Paper publication (May 2025).
Year-on-year change in RoW and total employment
Source: HM Revenue and Customs – Pay As You Earn Real Time Information
(non-seasonally adjusted) and Migrant Worker Scan.
Note:
Estimates are based on where employees live. Vertical lines indicate key
events: the Brexit vote (June 2016), start of lockdowns (March 2020),
end of free movement (January 2021), the immigration system reforms
(January 2024) and the Immigration White Paper publication (May 2025).
Payrolled employments by regions
London stands out for its high share of payrolled employments held by non-UK nationals, though other UK regions have also seen increases over time.
The share of payrolled employments held by non-UK nationals (43%) living in London in December 2025 remains more than double the overall share for the UK (20%).
Across the UK as a whole (including London), 7% of employments were held by EU nationals and 13% were held by RoW nationals in December 2025.
The region after London with the highest share of non-UK workers remains the South East, at 20%.
Total payrolled employment fell by around one percentage point in both London and the UK in 2025, with a slightly larger decline in the capital.
The share of non-UK workers has been rising faster in other regions of the UK than in London.
During 2025, the percentage increase in the number of employments held by RoW nationals was higher for the UK overall (+6%) than in London (+3%). While employment growth remained positive in both geographies, increases were notably smaller than between December 2023 and December 2024, when employments held by RoW nationals rose by 11% across the UK and by 6% in London.
Meanwhile, the decline in employments held by EU nationals in London was similar in 2025 than in 2024, approximately 5%. Across the UK as a whole, the decline was also similar to last year, standing at 3%.
London’s share of total UK payrolled employments held by non-UK nationals has been falling steadily over the past decade, from 39% in July 2014 to 31% in December 2025.
Regional changes in 2025
Source: HM Revenue and Customs – Pay As You Earn Real Time Information
(non-seasonally adjusted) and Migrant Worker Scan.
Note:
Estimates are based on where employees live. Totals for each region may
not sum exactly to 100% because percentages have been rounded.
Payrolled employments by industry
Non-UK nationals are more strongly represented in some industries than others. In December 2025, non-UK nationals still accounted for over three in five hospitality employments held by London residents, compared to less than one in five in public administration.
RoW employments are most common in Hospitality (42%), Health and Social work (39%) and Administration (36%). These shares all increased compared with December 2024, rising by almost 3 percentage points (pp) in Hospitality, 2pp in Health and Social Work, 2pp in Administration.
The industries with the largest shares of EU employments in London are Construction (26%), Hospitality (22%), and Administration (19%). These have all fallen between December 2024 and December 2025; by almost 1 pp for Construction and Administration and close to 2pp for Hospitality.
Only one out of 15 industries (Finance and Insurance) saw an increase in the number of EU payrolled employees in 2025. In contrast, employments held by RoW nationals increased across all industries except Information & Communication.
The annual growth rate of employments held by RoW nationals has continued to slow across almost all industries since 2024, after a period of particularly rapid expansion between 2021 and 2023.
Industry changes in 2025
Source: HM Revenue and Customs – Pay As You Earn Real Time Information
(non-seasonally adjusted) and Migrant Worker Scan.
Note:
Estimates are based on where employees live.
Key growth sectors
This section focuses on the financial, professional and business services and technology sector identified as a key growth driver for London in the London Growth Plan. To approximate this sector, we combine data for Finance & Insurance, Professional Services, and Information & Communication. Together, these sectors account for approximately a quarter of payrolled employment in London and are central to the capital’s productivity and economic growth. This sector is also known as Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS).
Overall, payrolled employments in this high-knowledge sector in London grew by around 10% between December 2020 and December 2025. However, they fell by around 1% between December 2024 and December 2025.
Employments held by RoW nationals increased steadily from 2021 onwards, with their share of employment in the sector rising from around 19% in December 2019 to 24% in December 2025, broadly coinciding with the introduction of the UK’s points-based immigration system.
Over the same period, the shares of employments held by UK and EU nationals declined, from around 64% to 62% and from 17% to 15% respectively.
Finance & Insurance, Professional Services, and Information & Communication followed broadly similar trends over the past decade. However, Finance & Insurance was the only one of the three sectors to record growth in payrolled employment between 2024 and 2025, while payrolled employment declined in Professional Services, Information & Communication, and London overall.
Source: HM Revenue and Customs – Pay As You Earn Real Time Information
(non-seasonally adjusted) and Migrant Worker Scan.
Note:
Estimates are based on where employees live. Vertical lines indicate key
events: the Brexit vote (June 2016), start of lockdowns (March 2020),
end of free movement (January 2021), the immigration system reforms
(January 2024) and the publication of the Immigration White Paper (May
2025).
Overseas NINo registrations
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) publishes data on National Insurance numbers (NINos) allocated to adult non-UK nationals, broken down by selected nationalities and world regions (see Data Note). NINo registrations should be interpreted as an indicator of migration inflows and potential labour market participation rather than a direct measure of migration. By contrast, HMRC Pay As You Earn (PAYE) nationality statistics provide a stock measure of people currently in payrolled employment.
NINo Registrations - EU vs RoW
In the year ending March 2026, there were around 170,373 overseas NINo registrations in London, including 18,100 from EU nationals and 152,300 from RoW nationals (including Other/Unknown). This was lower than the 236,700 registrations recorded in the year ending March 2010, with far fewer EU registrations but slightly more from RoW nationals.
Registration trends broadly mirror those seen in payrolled employments by nationality, particularly the shift from EU to RoW workers from 2020 onwards. However, while RoW registrations have fallen since their 2023 peak, payrolled employments held by RoW nationals in London have continued to grow, highlighting the difference between NINo registrations as a measure of new inflows and PAYE data as a measure of the stock of payrolled employments.
Source: Department for Work and Pension via Stat-Xplore – NINo
registrations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK.
Note:
Estimates are based on the recorded location of NINo registration.
Vertical lines indicate key events: the Brexit vote (June 2016), start
of lockdowns (March 2020), end of free movement (January 2021), the
immigration system reforms (January 2024) and the publication of the
Immigration White Paper (May 2025).
Origins of NINo registrations
The composition of overseas nationals registering for a NINo in London has also changed substantially over time, particularly following the 2016 Brexit referendum. Between 2010-2020, NINo registrations were dominated by EU nationals. By 2025-2026, average registrations from EU nationals had fallen by around 88%, while registrations from South Asia had increased by around 80% compared with 2010-2015.
Regions containing Commonwealth countries continued to account for a large share of registrations throughout the period, particularly South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa .
Registrations from Ukraine also rose noticeably from 2022 onwards following the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the introduction of dedicated UK visa routes such as the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.
Registrations from East Asia have also increased markedly since 2020, driven in part by the introduction of the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) visa route in July 2020 and, subsequently, the UK’s new points-based immigration system in 2021.
Source: Department for Work and Pension via Stat-Xplore – NINo
registrations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK.
Note:
RoW here is calculated as total NINo registrations minus the other five
largest origin regions in each time period. Estimates are based on the
recorded location of NINo registration.
Detailed NINo registrations
Detailed DWP data are available for major groupings, as well as selected individual nationalities, in the corresponding tab below.
Major Groupings
Note: Totals may not equal the sum of component groups due to DWP rounding and the use of averages. In the DWP data, RoW is defined as all nationalities excluding the EU, Other Europe, Asia and Other/Unknown categories. This differs from the definition used elsewhere in this report, where RoW refers to all non-EU nationalities.
Back to topIndividual Nationalities
Nationalities available in the DWP data with at least 100 NINo registrations on average between 2021-2024 are listed in alphabetical order below.
Back to topImplications
London’s labour market has seen a broad slowdown in job creation and rising unemployment since early 2024. While employments held by Rest of World nationals continued to increase in 2025, growth has slowed substantially from the rapid rates recorded following the introduction of the points-based immigration system in 2021. At the same time, overall payrolled employment growth in London has turned slightly negative, with declines among both UK and EU nationals only partly offset by continued growth in employments held by RoW nationals.
The composition of London’s workforce continues to evolve. Since the end of free movement, employments held by EU nationals have fallen markedly, while those held by RoW nationals have increased. National Insurance number registrations suggest that migration inflows are increasingly coming from non-EU countries, particularly South Asia. As a result, migrant workers remain central to London’s labour market, but the sources of labour supply have changed significantly since Brexit.
Recent immigration reforms may further influence these trends. Changes introduced during 2024 and 2025 increased salary and skills thresholds for work visas, ended overseas recruitment for social care workers, and tightened a number of migration routes. Sectors with the highest shares of non-UK employments, such as Hospitality, Health and Social Work, Administration and Construction, may be particularly affected if overseas labour supply weakens further. At the same time, London’s knowledge-intensive business service sectors, like Finance & Insurance, Professional Services, and Information & Communication, continue to attract growing numbers of RoW workers and appear more resilient despite broader labour market weakness.