Britain is most concerned about immigration control
A new international survey across 19 countries by Ipsos shows that Britain is by far the most concerned about immigration control.
A new international survey across 19 countries by Ipsos shows that Britain is by far the most concerned about immigration control. 43% of people in Britain choose immigration control as one of the top 3 most important issues facing the country, with the next highest country being Australia on 32%.
All the other European countries included in the study – who also face the possibility of increased immigration from Romania and Bulgaria from 1st January – are much less concerned. For example, only 22% of Germans placed immigration control in their top 3 national issues, 21% in France, 17% in Italy and 6% in Spain.
This pattern is very consistent with previous studies we’ve conducted: Britain has been the most concerned country every single month since we started tracking views internationally in 2009.
Q: Which three of the following topics do you find the most worrying in your country?
The full list of results for "Immigration" is shown below.
| Country | 2013 (%) |
|---|---|
| Britain | 43% |
| Australia | 32% |
| Belgium | 26% |
| Germany | 22% |
| France | 21% |
| Russia | 20% |
| Italy | 17% |
| USA | 16% |
| Canada | 15% |
| Sweden | 15% |
| Spain | 6% |
| Japan | 5% |
| South Africa | 5% |
| Turkey | 5% |
| Argentina | 4% |
| India | 2% |
| Brazil | 1% |
| Poland | 1% |
| South Korea | 1% |
Bobby Duffy, Managing Director of the Ipsos Social Research Institute said:
“This survey shows yet again that immigration control is much more of a focus in the UK than other countries. This concern has been consistently high over many years and is a real difference between the UK and other countries, including other countries in Europe, which have even fewer restrictions on freedom of movement for other European citizens.”
Technical details The survey instrument was conducted in 20 countries via the Ipsos Online Panel system. For the results of the survey herein, a total sample of 16,039 adults age 18-64 in the US and Canada, and age 16-64 in all other countries, was interviewed between September 3rd and September 17th, 2013. Approximately 1000+ individuals were surveyed in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Spain, Great Britain and the United States of America. Approximately 500+ individuals were surveyed in Argentina, Belgium, Poland, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and Turkey.
