Accredited official statistics

National Insurance numbers allocated to adult overseas nationals to June 2024

Published 22 August 2024

This summary contains statistics on National Insurance Numbers (NINos) allocated to adult non-UK overseas nationals to June 2024.

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 12 month ending totals, at quarterly intervals, rather than the numbers of registrations each quarter. 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 via 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 the background information and methodology note.

1. Main stories

The main stories are:

• for the year ending (YE) June 2024 there were 940,000 NINo registrations from non-UK adult overseas nationals. This compares to 1.1 million registrations for the YE June 2023

• the majority of registrations for the YE June 2024 are from non-EU nationals with 860,000 compared to 70,000 registrations from EU nationals

• numbers of registrations from both EU and non-EU nationals experienced a fall in the YE to June 2024. Non-EU registrations fell from 960,000 at YE June 2023 to 860,000 at YE June 2024, while EU registrations fell from 130,000 at YE June 2023 to 70,000 at YE June 2024

• for the YE June 2024, the nationality with the highest number of registrations from non-EU nationals was India with 220,000, followed by Nigeria with 93,000 registrations

• for the YE June 2024 the nationality with the highest number of registrations from EU nationals was Romania with 12,000, followed by Ireland with 11,000 registrations

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 upto June 2024.

The two main methods of applying for a NINo are:

• directly online to DWP at Apply for a Nino (AfN)

• via the Home Office when an application for a 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 the 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 the 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 June 2024

Source: Stat-Xplore

Note: Figures in the graph show 12 month ending totals, plotted at quarterly intervals. The values on the right of each plotted line show the total number of NINo registrations for the latest year end.

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

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

Total registrations continued to rise until YE June 2023, where it reached 1.1 million and remained at 1.1 million until YE December 2023. The total for YE June 2024 has fallen to 940,000

The majority of registrations for YE June 2024 were from non-EU nationals at 860,000 (91%) compared to 70,000 (7%) from EU nationals. The remaining 15,000 (2%) were from unknown nationalities. The majority of registrations for YE June 2023 were also from non-EU nationals at 960,000 (86%) compared with 130,000 (12%) from EU nationals, and 19,000 (2%) from unknown nationalities.

Since YE June 2005, NINo registrations from EU nationalities were always in the majority apart from a short period between YE March 2010 and YE December 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 and non-EU nationality group: Year End (YE) June 2020 to YE June 2024

Source: Stat-Xplore

Note: Percentages are calculated using unrounded data and then rounded to the nearest whole number. Therefore, percentages in charts may not add up to 100 and percentages quoted in text may not reflect the sum of percentages shown in the charts.

The proportion of non-EU NINo registrations has been increasing over recent years. For YE June 2024, 91% of NINos registered from overseas nationals were from non-EU nationals, compared with 86% for YE June 2023 and 45% for YE June 2020.

The proportion of NINo registrations from EU nationals (not including EU other) has fallen in recent years to 7% for YE June 2024, compared with 12% for YE June 2023 and 55% for YE June 2020.

The steady fall of EU NINo registrations since YE June 2020 is evident in all EU groups with EU14 falling from 24% at YE June 2020 to 5% at YE June 2024, EU2 falling from 21% at YE June 2020 to 2% at YE June 2024 and EU8 falling from 9% at YE June 2020 to 1% at YE June 2024.

5. EU NINo Registrations

Year end (YE) NINo registration totals by EU nationality group: to YE June 2024

Source: Stat-Xplore

Note: Figures in the graph show 12 month ending totals, plotted at quarterly intervals.

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

Registrations from EU14 nationalities gradually increased from 2002 until they peaked at 260,000 in YE June 2015, before declining to 160,000 at YE December 2018, following the EU Exit referendum in June 2016. Numbers then began to increase slightly until YE December 2019, but then declined rapidly until YE March 2021 (35,000). Registrations from EU14 nationalities increased to 100,000 at YE March 2022 but have gradually fallen to 46,000 at YE June 2024. 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 again generally declined since the EU Exit referendum in 2016 to 8,500 registrations at YE March 2021. Registrations then rose gradually to YE March 2022, but have since decreased to 6,600 registrations at YE June 2024.

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 these 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. EU2 registrations peaked in the YE December 2016, with 230,000 registrations, then declined gradually until YE March 2020 (160,000). Following this, registrations declined steeply until YE March 2021 when they had fallen to 28,000. Registrations began to increase slightly to 49,000 for YE March 2023, but have since declined, falling to 15,000 at YE June 2024.

NINo registrations from EU ‘other’ have remained consistently low throughout the timeseries and there were only 1,400 registrations for YE June 2024.

Percentage of EU Registrations by EU nationality group: Year End (YE) June 2020 to YE June 2024

Source: Stat-Xplore

Note: Percentages are calculated using unrounded data and then rounded to the nearest whole number. Therefore percentages in charts may not add up to 100 and percentages quoted in text may not reflect the sum of percentages shown in the charts.

In general, the overall number of EU NINo registrations has fallen across all EU groups in the last five years (330,000 for YE June 2020 to 70,000 for YE June 2024), the proportions of those registering by each EU group has also changed over this period of time:

Most registrations from EU nationals for YE June 2024 were from nationalities in the EU14 subgroup (66%). Although the number of registrations from EU14 nationals has decreased substantially during the period from YE June 2020 (150,000) to YE June 2024 (46,000), the percentage as a proportion of all registrations in the EU groups has increased over the last 5 years.   

Registrations from nationalities in the EU2 group have the second highest proportion of registrations of all the EU groups with 22% at YE June 2024. The percentage at YE June 2020 was 38%.

Registrations from EU8 account for 9% of EU registrations for YE June 2024. The percentage at YE June 2020 was 17%.

Registrations from EU ‘other’ remain very low and account for only 2% of EU registrations for YE June 2024.

Top five EU nationalities by total NINo registrations for year end (YE) June 2023 and YE June 2024

Source: Stat-Xplore

Each nationality in the top five EU nationalities for YE June 2024 shows a reduced number of NINo registrations when compared to figures from YE June 2023.

For YE June 2024, Romania remains the EU nationality with the highest number of registrations (12,000), however has fallen by 24,000 registrations since a year earlier, when the number of registrations was 36,000 for YE June 2023.

Registrations from those with an Irish nationality are the second highest number of registrations (11,000) for YE June 2024, decreasing from 13,000 registrations for the YE June 2023, 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 the background information and methodology note for further details.

For YE June 2024, those with an Italian nationality had the third highest number of registrations (6,100). In YE June 2023, Italian nationals had the fifth highest number of registrations at 10,000.

For YE June 2024 NINo registrations from French nationals were the fourth highest at 6,000, followed by Spanish nationals at the fifth position with 5,700.

Timeseries showing YE totals of NINo registrations for the top five EU nationalities at YE June 2024

Source: Stat-Xplore

Note: Figures in the graph show 12 month ending totals, plotted at annual intervals.

Figures for the top five EU nationalities at YE June 2024 show Romania has the highest number of registrations at 12,000. Registrations for Romania were 96,000 in YE June 2020 and fell steeply to 20,000 at YE June 2021, but then increased to 39,000 at YE June 2022, falling gradually to 36,000 at YE June 2023 before falling to 12,000 at YE June 2024.

Irish nationals have the second highest number of registrations at YE June 2024 (11,000). It is the only nationality in the top five at June 2024 to have had an overall increase in registrations since YE June 2020. Registrations fell steeply from 8,500 at YE June 2020 to 1,700 at YE June 2021, before rising to 16,000 at YE June 2022. This number has since fallen to 11,000 at YE June 2024.

Italian nationals have the third highest numbers of EU registrations at YE June 2024 at 6,100 falling from 37,000 at YE June 2020. Numbers fell steeply at YE June 2021 to 11,000, increasing to 18,000 at YE June 2022, before falling to 10,000 at YE June 2023, then 6,100 at YE June 2024.

French registrations are the fourth highest nationality at YE June 2024 at 6,000, decreasing from 18,000 at YE June 2020. Registrations fell to 3,300 in June 2021, then rose to 11,000 in YE June 2022, falling to 8,500 in YE June 2023 then 6,000 at YE June 2024.

Spanish registrations are the fifth highest at YE June 2024 at 5,700, a fall from 29,000 for YE June 2020. Registrations fell steeply to 7,700 at YE June 2021, then rose to 16,000 at YE June 2022, falling to 10,000 at YE June 2023 then 5,700 at YE June 2024.

6. Non-EU registrations

Year End (YE) NINo registration totals by non-EU nationality group: to YE June 2024

Source: Stat-Xplore

Note: Figures in the graph show 12 month ending totals, plotted at quarterly intervals.

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

Since the timeseries began, NINo registrations from Asian nationals have always been the highest of all registrations from the non-EU groups, peaking at YE December 2010 with 220,000, but then declining to 75,000 at YE June 2014. Registrations then remained stable until YE December 2018 before gradually increasing to 190,000 at YE March 2020. Registrations then fell to 100,000 at YE March 2021, then increased steeply to 600,000 at YE December 2023, but have since fallen to 540,000 at YE June 2024.

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 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 at YE March 2020 before falling to 31,000 at YE March 2021. Numbers of registrations have since risen steeply to 270,000 at YE December 2023 but have since fallen to 210,000 at YE June 2024.

Registrations from the Americas have always been relatively low and stable but after a very gradual increase at YE March 2009 to 36,000 registrations, numbers then gradually fell to 20,000 at YE June 2014. The number of registrations then remained relatively stable, but gradually increased to 35,000 at YE September 2019, before falling to 14,000 at YE March 2021. Since then, numbers of registrations peaked at a high of 44,000 at YE December 2022 but have since fallen to 38,000 at YE June 2024.

Similarly, registrations from Oceania have always remained low, and peaked in YE December 2007 at 35,000. Since then, numbers have remained stable, but gradually fell to 2,900 at YE June 2021. Since then, registrations have gradually risen to 18,000 at YE June 2024.

Registrations from European nationalities who are not 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 at 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 49,000 at YE June 2024.

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 the background information and methodology note for more information.

Percentage of non-EU registrations by non-EU nationality group: to Year End (YE) June 2024

Source: Stat-Xplore

Note: Percentages are calculated using unrounded data and then rounded to the nearest whole number, therefore may not add up to 100.

In general, numbers of registrations from non-EU nationalities have increased over the last five years to 855,000 registrations at YE June 2024, from 280,000 at YE June 2020. 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 at YE June 2024 (64%). The proportion has fluctuated only slightly since YE June 2020 when it was 59%.

African nationals have the next highest proportion at 24% at YE June 2024. The proportion has increased gradually since YE June 2020 when it was 17%.

At YE June 2020 the proportion of registrations for ‘other Europe’ was 10% which increased to 14% at YE June 2022, coinciding with the conflict in Ukraine. At YE June 2024, the proportion of registrations for ‘other Europe’ has fallen to 6%.

Registrations in the Americas are the fourth highest group of non-EU registrations, with only 4% at YE June 2024. There has been a steady fall in proportion since YE June 2020 when the percentage of registrations was 10%.

There has also been a slight fall in proportion of registrations for Oceania, from 4% at YE June 2020 to 2% at YE June 2024.

Top five non-EU nationalities by total NINo registrations for YE June 2023 and YE June 2024

Source: Stat-Xplore

The highest number of NINo registrations at YE June 2024 was from India at 220,000 decreasing from 280,000 registrations at YE June 2023.

Nigerian registrations had the second highest nationality for non-EU registrations, at 93,000 at YE June 2024, decreasing from 130,000 at YE June 2023, where they were also the second highest.

The third highest NINo registrations from non-EU nationalities at YE June 2024 were from Pakistan nationals with 92,000 registrations, an increase from 65,000 at YE June 2023.

Bangladesh had the fourth highest number of non-EU registrations at YE June 2024 at 34,000 in comparison to 30,000 at YE June 2023 when it was the sixth highest.

The non-EU nationality with the fifth highest number of NINo registrations was China with 32,000 registrations, in comparison to 35,000 at YE June 2023, when they were also the fifth position.

Ukraine fell to seventh position in the number of NINo registrations from non-EU nationalities at YE June 2024 with 27,000 registrations, falling from third position at YE June 2023 with 75,000.

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 the background information and methodology note for more information.

Timeseries showing YE totals of NINo registrations for the top five non-EU nationalities at Year End (YE) June 2024:

Source: Stat-Xplore

Note: Figures in the graph show 12 month ending totals, plotted at annual intervals.

Figures for the top five non-EU nationalities at YE June 2024 show India has the highest number of registrations at 220,000 The number of registrations fell from 77,000 at YE June 2020 to 61,000 at YE June 2021, but then increased steeply to 280,000 at YE June 2023 before falling to 220,000 at YE June 2024.

Nigeria had the next highest number of registrations at YE June 2024 at 93,000. Numbers of registrations rose from 13,000 at YE June 2020 to 15,000 at YE June 2021, then rose steeply to 130,000 at YE June 2023, before falling to 93,000 at YE June 2024.

Pakistan had the third highest number of registrations with 92,000 at YE June 2024. The number of registrations fell slightly from19,000 at YE June 2020 to 13,000 at YE June 2021, then continued to increase to 92,000 at YE June 2024.

Bangladesh had the fourth highest number of non-EU registrations at YE June 2024 with 34,000. Numbers of registrations rose from 5,800 at YE June 2020 to 6,100 at YE June 2021. Registrations then rose steeply to 30,000 at YE June 2023 and continued to increase to 34,000 at YE June 2024

China had the fifth highest number of registrations at 32,000 at YE June 2024. Registrations fell from 12,000 at YE June 2020 to 5,200 at YE June 2021, but then continued to increase to 32,000 at YE June 2024.

7. Where in the UK are people registering?

Year end (YE) total of NINo registrations by region and non-EU and EU groups for YE June 2024

Region	Non-EU	EU
London	230,000	23,000
South East	87,000	6,400
West Midlands	82,000	4,100
North West	72,000	4,200
East of England	60,000	4,700
East Midlands	51,000	3,100
Yorkshire and The Humber	50,000	2,700
Scotland	43,000	3,800
South West	37,000	2,900
North East	22,000	800
Wales	20,000	60
Northern Ireland	9,800	2,700
Overseas Registration	86,000	9,700
Unknown or Missing Region	8,700	380

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.

At YE June 2024, the number of registrations from non-EU nationals was greater than registrations from EU nationals (860,000 compared with 70,000) and this was reflected across all regions.

42% of all registrations with a known UK address at the time of registration for YE June 2024 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 230,000 non-EU registrations and 23,000 EU registrations.

The South East region had the second highest number of registrations with 87,000 non-EU and 6,400 EU registrations.

Top 10 Local Authorities by total of NINo registrations for YE June 2024

Local Authorities	Registrations
Birmingham	30,000
Newham	22,000
Manchester	19,000
Tower Hamlets	14,000
Ealing	14,000
Leicester	14,000
Leeds	14,000
Brent	13,000
Redbridge	13,000
Coventry	13,000

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 at YE June2024 was Birmingham with 30,000 registrations. Newham had the second highest registrations with 22,000, Manchester was third with 19,000.  Of the top 10 local authorities for NINo registrations, nearly 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 the 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 by emailing the DWP statistical production team: [email protected].

Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing [email protected] 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 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 bulletin 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 or to claim benefits and tax credits 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

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have transformed the way they measure Long-Term International Migration (LTIM). Since 2021, data from the Home Office and Department for Work and Pensions have been used to produce Admin-Based Migration Estimates (ABMEs). For more information on how these are developed, see the Provisional long-term international migration estimates: technical user guide.

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 the 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

A detailed nationality breakdown for each world area is available in the background information and methodology note.

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: 28 November 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: [email protected]

Contacts

Press enquiries should be directed to the DWP Press Office.

Lead Analyst: MD Akmal Hossain Sadi

ISBN: 978-1-78659-700-7