Too Many Immigrants?

Seven in ten (71%) Britons say there are too many immigrants in the country and just a quarter (27%) believe immigration is good for the economy according to new research from Ipsos. The latest Global @dvisor survey conducted in 23 countries shows that only Russians are more likely than Britons to agree that there are too many immigrants in their country (77% do so). Other countries with similarly high levels of agreement are Belgium (72%), Italy (67%), Spain (67%) and South Africa (66%). The Japanese are the happiest with their current level of immigration – just 15% think there are too many immigrants.

Immigration has raised also raised other concerns – three quarters (76%) of Britons agree that immigration has placed too much pressure on public services while three in five (62%) agree that immigration has made it more difficult for British people to get jobs. Concern about the stress placed on public services by immigration is higher in Britain than any of the other countries included in this survey.

• Read Bobby Duffy's comment for The Sunday Times

Immigration is most positively seen in Brazil where half (49%) agree that immigrants make their country a more interesting place to live and a similar number (47%) believe immigration is good for the economy of Brazil. Around three in ten Britons say the same (33% and 27%) respectively.

A spokesman for Ipsos said:

“Clearly people in Britain are concerned how immigration is affecting their employment opportunities; the strain on public services; and impact on a sluggish economy. These concerns are also reflected in many countries around the world.”

• Ipsos Global @dvisor 22: Attitudes to Immigration - July 2011
• Download the computer tables for the UK (PDF)

Technical note

Global @dvisor is a monthly online survey conducted by Ipsos via the Ipsos Online Panel system in 24 countries around the world. The countries reporting herein are Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China*, France, Great Britain, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and the United States of America. For the results of the survey presented herein, an international sample of 18,607 adults age 18-64 in the US and Canada, and age 16-64 in all other countries, were interviewed. Approximately 1000+ individuals participated on a country by country basis via the Ipsos Online Panel with the exception of Argentina, Belgium, Indonesia, Mexico, Poland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden and Turkey, where each have a sample approximately 500+. Weighting was employed to balance demographics and ensure the sample's composition reflects that of the adult population according to the most recent country Census data available and to provide results intended to approximate the sample universe, (in the small number of developing countries where access to the internet is limited respondents are more likely to be affluent and well connected than the average member of the population.) *China was not included in the immigration section of the survey