Migrant nurses and doctors contribute more in taxes than they receive in public services over their lifetimes. Even after public spending costs are accounted for, their work delivers a substantial net benefit to Britain’s finances.
Most people surveyed believed migration was rising, even as net migration fell sharply. The disconnect shows why clear, accessible evidence must be at the heart of the national debate.
Adult migrants held 6.5 million employee jobs in December 2025. From construction and transport to health and care, their work helps keep essential services running and businesses growing across Britain.
Migration has helped shape Britain’s economy, public services and national identity. Yet public debate often loses sight of this shared history, and a persistent gap between perception and evidence risks deepening division. This report makes the case for a fair, managed immigration system alongside an honest national conversation about contribution, integration and belonging.
Drawing onS in-depth interviews with migrants, NHS workers, business owners, policymakers, community leaders and experts, alongside extensive analysis of published research and official data, the report examines how migration has shaped Britain since the beginning of the twentieth century. It explores migrants’ contributions to our high streets, public services, political life, music, food and sport, bringing statistics together with the experiences behind them.
The report calls for migration history to be embedded in the national curriculum, helping young people understand the country they share. It also recommends a national action plan to strengthen community cohesion, better recognition of overseas qualifications, more accessible migration data and a programme to preserve migrant histories. Together, these measures can help Britain recognise shared contributions, address concerns and build greater public confidence.
“Equi’s report is a timely contribution to [a] difficult task. It offers evidence where there has been conjecture, nuance where there has been noise, and a sense of proportion where there has been complacency or panic. In doing so, it helps us move towards a debate worthy of what the public needs: confident, fair-minded and grounded in reality.”
Fraser Nelson
Columnist at The Times
Stronger Together’s Foreword Author
Small boat arrivals dominated public debate despite representing a small share of immigration between 2018 and 2024. That focus can obscure the wider picture of why people come to Britain and what they contribute.
Britain’s health services rely on international expertise. The General Medical Council’s 2025 workforce report identified 138,405 licensed doctors who trained overseas, supporting care across the NHS and private sector.
Skilled Worker visa main applicants made a greater average contribution to public finances than UK-born adults in 2022/23. The estimate accounts for both taxes paid and public spending received.
Case Study
Nadeem Shah came to Britain from Pakistan aged nine and made South Yorkshire his home. At seventeen, he began helping his father renovate properties, taking over the family business in 1974.
From those beginnings, he built construction businesses that transformed disused industrial sites into places to live and work. Operating in Yorkshire and London, those businesses have employed thousands of workers and helped bring new life to former industrial areas.
His contribution has also extended into community life. Shah helped establish charities including Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice and People United Against Crime, alongside supporting causes overseas.
For Shah, success rests on respect, reliability and a willingness to do the work himself: “I’ve never in my life asked any single person I’ve employed to do a job that I wasn’t prepared to do.”
His story illustrates how migration’s contribution can be seen in renewed neighbourhoods and stronger communities, as well as in jobs and tax revenues.