National statistics

National Insurance numbers allocated to adult overseas nationals to September 2023

Published 23 November 2023

This summary contains statistics on National Insurance numbers (NINos) allocated to adult non-UK overseas nationals, covering the period from January 2002 to September 2023.

These Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) statistics show a count, by individual nationality, of the number of NINos registered to adult non-UK nationals, irrespective of the length of stay in the UK. The statistics are not a count of quarterly or annual migration or the number of adult nationals currently residing in the UK. The statistics only show the nationality of the individual at the point of registration.

The narrative in this bulletin focuses on the number of registrations over annual periods of time, rather than quarterly. The benefit of this is that it allows us to focus on trends over longer periods of time, plus, quarterly numbers can often be influenced by seasonal effects and various changes to policy. Both quarterly and annual numbers are available on Stat-Xplore

Statistical Trends

When observing statistical trends in this release it is helpful to understand the context of world events during the period covered by the statistics. Changing make-up of constituent nation states within the EU, with nations joining the EU, and the UK’s EU exit, as well as global conflicts such as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, impacts of the pandemic and subsequent changes to the travel rules because of government migration policies and COVID-19 have all had an impact on the trends seen in the time series. For more information on world events that may have influenced statistical trends, see background information and methodology note.

1. Main stories

The main stories are:

•  for the year ending (YE) September 2023 there were 1.1 million NINo registrations from non-UK adult overseas nationals. This compares to 960,000 registrations for the YE September 2022

•  the majority of registrations for the YE September 2023 are from non-EU nationals with 970,000, compared to 110,000 registrations from EU nationals

• for the YE September 2023, the nationality with the highest number of registrations from non-EU nationals was India with 280,000, followed by Nigeria with 140,000 registrations

•  for the YE September 2023 the nationality with the highest number of registrations from EU nationals was Romania (30,000)

2. What you need to know

This summary contains statistics on NINos allocated to non-UK adult overseas nationals on the date

the NINo was registered, covering the period from January 2002 to September 2023.

The two main methods of applying for a NINo are:

• Directly to DWP at GOV.UK via Apply for a NINo (AfN)

• Via the Home Office when an application for a skilled worker visa is made 

Apply for a NINo (AfN) is a digital NINo application service where users can apply for a NINo on-line, the service is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. For more information on how these processes work see background information and methodology note.

EU groupings used within migration statistics

The following EU groupings are used in the statistics:

• EU14 (these are the original EU members: Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden)

• EU8 (these joined the EU in 2004: Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia)

• EU2 (these joined the EU in 2007: Romania & Bulgaria)

• EU Other (Croatia, Cyprus, and Malta)

For reporting purposes, other European nationalities not in the EU are labelled ‘other Europe’ and are classified as non-EU. This includes countries such as Ukraine. For a full list of world areas and their sub-groups and nationalities, see background information and methodology note.

3. How many people are registering?

Year end (YE) NINo registration totals for EU and non-EU nationals: to YE September 2023

Source: Stat-Xplore

Note:  For more information on time point descriptions, please see the background information and methodology note.

This graph is plotted using quarterly year-end figures.  The total values on the right show the number of NINo registrations for the latest quarter’s year end.

From the beginning of this statistical series (YE January 2002), the number of non-UK overseas NINo registrations fluctuated, but gradually increased to 920,000 registrations for YE June 2015.  Following this peak, numbers gradually declined to 760,000 in March 2020 before falling to a record low for YE March 2021 with 230,000 registrations.

Since then, numbers have continued to rise, and for YE September 2023 there were 1.1 million NINos registered from overseas nationals. This compares to 960,000 registrations for the previous YE September 2022.  Although YE comparisons for September have continued to increase, the rate of increase has started to slow considerably since YE March 2023, with the last two quarters showing total registrations stable at around 1.1 million.

The majority of registrations for YE September 2023 were from non-EU nationals at 970,000 (88%) compared to 110,000 (10%) from EU nationals. The remaining 20,000 (2%) were from unknown nationalities. The majority of registrations for YE September 2022 were also from non-EU nationals at 780,000 (81%) compared with 160,000 (16%) from, EU nationals, and 30,000 (3%) unknown.

Since YE September 2005, NINo registrations from EU nationalities were always in the majority apart from a short period in YE 2010, when non-EU nationalities had slightly more registrations than EU. However, since YE September 2020, there have consistently been more NINo registrations from non-EU nationals, than EU nationals. 

4. Where in the world are people registering from?

Percentage of NINo registrations by EU/non-EU nationality group: Year end (YE) September 2019 to YE September 2023

Source: Stat-Xplore

Note: Graph percentages may not round to 100% as they are calculated based on the figure for each nationality group and are subsequently rounded to the nearest whole number.

The proportion of non-EU NINo registrations has been steadily increasing over recent years. For YE September 2023 88% of NINos registered from overseas nationals were from non-EU nationals, an increase of 7 percentage points from YE September 2022 and 49 percentage points greater than YE September 2019.

The proportion of NINo registrations from EU nationals (from all EU subgroups) has fallen in recent years to 11% for YE September 2023, a fall of 5 percentage points since YE September 2022 and 50 percentage points since YE September 2019.

The steady fall of EU NINo registrations since YE September 2019 is evident in all EU groups with EU14 and EU2 having the greatest percentage point fall by 20 percentage points, and EU8 by 10 percentage points.  

5. EU NINo Registrations

Year end (YE) NINo registration totals by EU nationality group: to YE September 2023

Source: Stat-Xplore

Note: For more information on time point descriptions, please see background information and methodology note.

This graph is plotted using quarterly year-end figures. 

Registrations from EU14 nationalities gradually increased from 2002 until they peaked at 260,000 in YE June 2015, before declining to 160,000 in YE December 2018, following the EU Exit referendum in June 2016. Numbers then began to increase slightly until YE March 2020, but then declined rapidly until YE March 2021 (35,000). Since then, registrations from EU14 nationalities increased to 100,000 for YE March 2022 but have since fallen to 64,000 for YE September 2023. The EU14 group has had the largest number of registrations of all the EU groups since YE March 2019.

Registrations from EU8 nationalities drove the sharp rise in EU NINo registrations in 2004, when countries from the EU8 joined the EU. EU8 registrations peaked for the YE September 2007 at 340,000 registrations, after which numbers declined until YE March 2010 to 150,000. After a period of volatility EU8 registrations have again generally declined since the EU Exit referendum in 2016to 8,500 registrations for YE March 2021. Since then, numbers increased to 18,000 for YE September 2022 but have since fallen to 10,000 registrations for YE September 2023.

Registrations from EU2 nationals were relatively low until the removal of restrictions on work for EU2 citizens drove the sharp rise in EU registrations in 2014. Some of this reflected individuals who were residing in the UK prior to 2014 and would only have been able to register for a NINo after that date (see arrival to registration analysis on EU2 nationals for more information). EU2 registrations peaked in the YE December 2016, with 230,000 registrations, then declined until YE March 2019 (170,000), followed by a small increase until YE March 2020, at which registrations then declined steeply, until YE March 2021 (28,000). Registrations began to increase slightly to 59,000 until YE December 2021 but have since followed a general decline, falling to 39,000 for YE September 2023.

NINo registrations from EU ‘other’ have remained consistently low throughout the timeseries and there were only 1,900 registrations for YE September 2023.

Percentage of EU Registrations by EU nationality group: Year end (YE) September 2019 to YE September 2023

Source: Stat-Xplore

Note: Graph percentages may not round to 100% as they are calculated based on the figure for each nationality group and are subsequently rounded to the nearest whole number.

In general, the overall number of EU NINo registrations has fallen across all EU groups in the last five years (460,000 for YE September 2019 to 110,000 for YE September 2023), the proportions of those registering by each EU group has also changed over this period of time:

Most registrations from EU nationals for YE September 2023 were from nationalities in the EU14 subgroup (56%). The proportion of all EU registrations made up by EU14 registrations has increased over the last 5 years with a rise of 13 percentage points since YE September 2019. However, the overall number of nationals registering from EU14 nations has more than halved in this period, from 190,000 for YE September 2019 to 68,000 for YE September 2023.

Registrations from nationalities in the EU2 group have the second highest proportion of registrations of all the EU groups for YE September 2023 (34%), however, this is a decrease by 5 percentage points since YE September 2019.

Registrations from EU8 account for 9% of EU registrations for YE September 2023. The registrations in this group have decreased by 8 percentage points since YE September 2019.

Registrations from EU ‘other’ remain very low and account for only 2% of EU registrations for YE September 2023.

Top five EU nationalities by total NINo registrations for Year end (YE) September 2022 and YE September 2023

Source: Stat-Xplore

Each nationality, in the top five EU nationalities for YE September 2023 shows a reduced number of NINo registrations when compared to figures from YE September 2022.

For YE September 2023, Romania remains the EU nationality with the highest number of registrations (30,000), however has fallen by 5000 registrations since a year earlier, when the number of registrations was 35,000 for YE September 2022.

Registrations from those with an Irish nationality are the second highest number of registrations (12,000) for YE September 2023, decreasing from 17,000 registrations for the YE September 2022, when they were also the second highest.  Ireland is part of the Common Travel Area (CTA) which allows British and Irish citizens to move freely and reside in either jurisdiction. (see Background Information and Methodology Note for further details).

For YE September 2023 NINo registrations from Spanish nationals were the third highest at 8,700. In YE September 2022, Spanish nationals had the fourth highest number of registrations at 13,000.

For YE September 2023 those with an Italian nationality had fourth highest number of registrations (8,700) followed by Bulgarian nationals (8,500).

Timeseries showing Year end (YE) totals of NINo registrations for the top five EU nationalities: YE September 2019 to YE September 2023

Source: Stat-Xplore

Figures for the top five EU nationalities since 2019 show that despite a fall in numbers from 140,000 in YE September 2019 to 30,000 in YE September 2023, Romania remained the EU nationality with the highest number of NINo registrations for YE September 2023.

Irish nationals, the second highest group of registrations for YE September 2023 (12,000) – is the only nationality to have had an overall increase in registrations since YE September 2019, increasing from 11,000.

Spanish nationals have the third highest numbers of EU registrations for YE September 2023 at 8,700, falling from 37,000 for YE September 2019.

Italian registrations are the fourth highest nationality for YE September 2023 at 8,700, decreasing from 52,000 for YE September 2019.

Bulgarian registrations are the fifth highest for YE September 2023 at 8,500, a fall from 38,000 for YE September 2019.

6. Non-EU registrations

Year end (YE) NINo registration totals by non-EU nationality group: to YE September 2023

Source: Stat-Xplore

Note: For more information on time point descriptions, please see background information and methodology note.

This graph is plotted using quarterly year-end figures. 

Following a decrease to 160,000 registrations for non-EU groups for YE March 2021, numbers have increased to 970,000 for YE September 2023.

Since 2002 NINo registrations from Asian nationals have always been the highest of all the non-EU groups, peaking for YE December 2010 with 220,000, but then declined until an overall low of 75,000 for YE June 2014. Registrations then remained stable until YE December 2018 before gradually increasing to 190,000 for YE March 2020. Registrations fell to 100,000 for YE March 2021, but have since increased steeply to 580,000 for YE September 2023.

Registrations from African nationals remained relatively stable before peaking in YE March 2006 with 74,000 registrations, after which the number of registrations continued to decline until the YE June 2014, when they fell to 27,000. Registrations from Africa were then stable, until they started to increase from YE December 2018 to reach 56,000 in YE March 2020 before falling to 31,000 for YE March 2021. Numbers of registrations have since risen steeply to 260,000 for YE September 2023.

Registrations from the Americas have always been relatively low and stable but after a very gradual increase for YE March 2009 to 36,000 registrations, numbers then gradually fell to 20,000 for YE June 2014. The number of registrations then remained relatively stable, but gradually increased to 35,000 for YE September 2019, before falling to 14,000 in YE March 2021. Since then, numbers of registrations rose to 44,000 for YE December 2022, but have since begun to decline slightly to 42,000 for YE September 2023.

Similarly, registrations from Oceania have always remained low, and peaked in YE September 2007 at 35,000. Since then, numbers have remained stable, but gradually fell to 2,900 in YE June 2021. Since then, registrations have steadily risen to 17,000 in YE September 2023.

Registrations from European nationalities not a part of the EU (Other Europe), have remained relatively low and stable until YE March 2018 when, for the first time, they had more registrations than Oceania at 17,000 compared with 16,000 for Oceania. Registrations then increased to 31,000 in YE March 2020, before falling to 12,000 in YE March 2021. Following this, registrations increased steeply and for YE March 2023 there were 150,000 registrations. This can be attributed to an increase in registrations from Ukrainian nationals following breakout of conflict with Russia. Since then, the number of ‘Other Europe’ registrations has fallen to 74,000 for the YE September 2023.

It should be noted that the noticeable increase in registrations from non-EU nationals after September 2018 until the beginning of 2020, is mostly due to registration for a NINo of adult dependants as part of certain visa approvals. See background information and methodology note for more information.

Percentage of non-EU registrations by non-EU nationality group: Year end (YE) September 2019 to YE September 2023

Source: Stat-Xplore

Note: Graph percentages may not round to 100% as they are calculated based on the figure for each nationality group and are subsequently rounded to the nearest whole number.

In general, numbers of registrations from non-EU nationalities have increased over the last five years to 970,000 registrations for YE September 2023, from 290,000 for YE September 2019. Comparison of the subgroups for non-EU nationalities shows there has only been slight changes in the proportions for each of the non-EU subgroups over the last five years.

Registrations by Asian nationals remain the non-EU group with the largest proportion of NINo registrations for YE September 2023 (59%), a 3% higher proportion than it was for the YE September 2019.

African nationals have the next highest proportion at 27% YE September 2023. An increase of 11 percentage points since YE September 2019.

For the YE September 2019 the proportion of registrations for ‘other Europe’ was (9%) and this increased to 17% for YE September 2022 which ties in with the conflict in Ukraine. For YE September 2023, the proportion of registrations for ‘other Europe’ has fallen to 8%.

Americas registrations are the fourth highest group of non-EU registrations, with only 4% for YE September 2023. There has been a steady fall in proportion since YE September 2019 when the percentage of registrations was 12%.

There has also been a fall in proportion of registrations for Oceania, from 6% for YE September 2019 to 2% for YE September 2023.

Top five non-EU nationalities by total NINo registrations for Year end (YE) September 2022 and YE September 2023

Source: Stat-Xplore

The highest number of NINo registrations for YE September 2023 was from India at 280,000, increasing from 220,000 registrations for YE September 2022.

Nigerian registrations had the second highest nationality for non-EU registrations, at 140,000 for YE September 2023, increasing from 76,000 for YE September 2022, where they were the third highest.

The third highest NINo registrations from non-EU nationalities for YE September 2023 were from Pakistan nationals with 73,000 an increase from 48,000 for YE September 2022.

Ukraine had the fourth highest number of non-EU registrations for YE June 2023 at 43,000. Ukraine is the only non-EU nationality in the top 5 to show a decrease in number of registrations since the previous year to date, decreasing by 48 thousand from 91,000 for YE September 2022, when they were the second highest.

The non-EU nationality with the fifth highest number of NINo registrations was Bangladesh with 36,000 registrations, in comparison to 24,000 for YE September 2022.

Registrations from China have fallen to the seventh highest number of NINo registrations from non-EU nationalities, however, have increased in number from 32,000 for YE September 2022 to 33,000 for YE September 2023.

It is worth noting that the chart above does not include those that have registered for a NINo with a British Nationals Overseas (BNO) Nationality. AT present there is no category in the operational data system for BNO Nationality therefore they are recorded as having an unknown Nationality in the data.  See background information and methodology note for more information.

Timeseries showing Year end (YE) totals of NINo registrations for the top five non-EU nationalities: YE September 2019 to YE September 2023

Source: Stat-Xplore

Figures for the top five non-EU nationalities since 2019 show that for YE September 2023 India had the highest number of registrations at 280,000, increasing from 72,000 for YE September 2019.

Nigeria had the next highest number of registrations for YE September 2023 at 140,000, an increase from 13,000 for YE September 2019.

Pakistan had the third highest number of registrations with 73,000 for YE September 2023, a steep increase from 18,000 for YE September 2019.

Ukraine had the fourth highest number of registrations at 43,000 for YE September 2023. YE numbers increased from 3,400 for YE September 2019 to peak at 91,000 at September 2022, but have since fallen.

Bangladesh had the lowest number of top five non-EU registrations for YE September 2023 at 36,000, an increase from 5,800 for YE September 2019.

7. Where in the UK are people registering?

Year end (YE) total of NINo registrations by region and non-EU/EU groups for the YE September 2023

Region	Non-EU	EU
London	270,000	38,000
South East	100,000	9,900
West Midlands	92,000	9,600
North West	77,000	7,800
East of England	69,000	8,500
East Midlands	60,000	6,700
Yorkshire and The Humber	59,000	5,500
Scotland	53,000	5,300
South West	42,000	4,300
North East	25,000	1,300
Wales	24,000	1,400
Northern Ireland	9,900	2,900
Overseas Registration	82,000	12,000
Unknown or missing Region	14,000	1,700

Source: Stat-Xplore

Note: Overseas indicates registrations which were obtained via Home Office Visa scheme prior to arrival in UK. Geography information is based on address given at time of NINo registration.

In the YE September 2023, the number of registrations from non-EU nationals was greater than registrations from EU nationals (970,000 compared with 110,000) and this was reflected across all regions.

38% of all registrations with a known UK address at the time of registration for YE September 2023 resided in London or the South East regions at the time of NINo registration.

The region with the highest number of NINo registrations was London with 260,000 non-EU registrations and 38,000 EU registrations.

The South East region had the second highest number of registrations with 100,000 non-EU and 9,900 EU.

Top 10 Local Authorities by total of NINo registrations for Year end  September 2023

Local Authorities	Registrations
Birmingham	33,000
Newham	27,000
Manchester	21,000
Leicester	18,000
Coventry	18,000
Tower Hamlets	17,000
Brent	17,000
Ealing	17,000
Leeds	16,000
Redbridge	16,000

Source: Stat-Xplore

Note:  Geography information is based on address given at time of NINo registration.

The local authority with the highest number of registrations for YE September 2023 was Birmingham with 33,000. Newham had the second highest registrations with 27,000 then Manchester with 21,000.Of the top 10 local authorities for NINo registrations, half were Boroughs of London.

8. About these statistics

Re-designation of National Statistics status

These statistics are accredited official statistics and were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in November 2020. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should therefore be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. For more information see background information and methodology note.

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to.  You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards.  Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website

EU exit

The Immigration and Social Security Co-ordination (EU Withdrawal) Act 2020 ended free movement between the EU and the UK on 31 December 2020 and the Future Relationship treaty came into force, launching the new Points Based Immigration System. Read the background information note for further information on the EU Exit.

What can you use these figures for?

The statistics provide:

• a 100% count of non-UK overseas nationals registered for a NINo

• Stat-Xplore allows users to tabulate NINo registrations for each quarter and Year End Nino registrations (for each quarter)

• the focus of this publication is on NINo registrations for Year End (YE)

• the nationality of non-UK overseas nationals at the time of registering

• the geographical location of the non-UK overseas nationals at the time of registering

What you cannot use these figures for

The statistics cannot be used as a count of:

• quarterly or annual migration to the UK

• the number of non-UK overseas nationals who have started work or are currently in work

• the number of non-UK overseas nationals who are currently in the UK

The statistics show the number of people registered for a NINo in order to work and to claim benefits and are one of a number of supplementary measures produced by government of in-migration to the UK.

Although quarterly registration figures are provided in Stat-XPlore, care should be taken when interpreting quarterly changes as they might reflect changes in operational activity. Annual year-on-year changes are more reliable to reflect longer-term trends.

The statistics are published as part of the scheduled timetable for the release of cross-Government migration statistics.

Read the background information and methodology note for further information, including detail on uses and limitations of the series.

Comparisons with other sources of migration

NINo statistics are not a direct measure of long-term migration and therefore are not directly comparable with Office for National Statistics (ONS) long-term estimates of immigration.

Transformation of migration statistics

Since 2022, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has moved to using administrative sources to estimate Long-Term International Migration based on actual behaviours. These admin-based migration estimates are underpinned by data from the Home Office and the Department for Work and Pensions, alongside data from the International Passenger Survey. These statistics are under development, as we work to further improve our methods.

Change to methodology for assigning geographies

Since the February 2023 release, the statistical method for assigning geographies has been improved. For more information on how geographies are assigned see background information and methodology note.

Rounding policy

Numbers in this bulletin have been rounded as detailed in the background information and methodology note. Percentage changes are calculated prior to rounding and then are rounded to the nearest whole number. As all figures within this bulletin have been rounded, therefore they may not sum to totals.

Due to rounding and the inclusion of unknown nationalities in the total, the total figure could differ from the sum of EU and non-EU.

World Areas

For reporting purposes, countries have been grouped into ‘world areas’ based primarily on geographical location. Countries are grouped according to current world area status for the entire back series.

World Area	Sub-Group
——-	——-
European Union (EU)	European Union EU14 (original EU members), European Union EU8 (joined EU in 2004), European Union EU2 (joined EU in 2007), European Union Other
Non-European Union (Other Europe)	Other Europe
Asia	Middle East and Central Asia, East Asia, South Asia, South East Asia
Africa	Sub-Saharan Africa, North Africa
Americas	North America, Central and South America
Oceania	Oceania

Release schedule

The statistics are published quarterly in February, May, August, and November and are sourced from administrative data originally collected via Migrant Workers Scan (MWS) which is sourced from the HMRC National Insurance and PAYE system (NPS). 

Next release: 29 February 2024

Where to find out more

Read previous releases of these statistics.

Read further information for this series, including detail on data sources, uses, quality and limitations of the series.

Statistics on NINo allocations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK are available from Stat-Xplore.

Read about the NINo application process.

9. User engagement

Enquires and feedback

DWP would like to hear your views on our statistical publications. If you use any of our statistics publications, we would be interested in hearing what you use them for and how well they meet your requirements: Send your comments by email to: cbm.stats@dwp.gov.uk

Contacts

Press enquiries should be directed to the DWP Press Office, telephone: 0203 267 5144.

Lead Analyst: Gillian Leighton

Enquiries about these statistics should be directed by email to: cbm.stats@dwp.gov.uk

ISBN: 978-1-78659-582-9