NET migration to Ceredigion and Powys has dropped since Brexit, official figures show.

The Office for National Statistics estimates that from July 2015 to June 2016, the month of the EU referendum, 292 more long-term migrants arrived from abroad in Ceredigion than left.

However, in the 12 months after Brexit that figure dropped by 193.

In total, 533 people moved to Ceredigion from abroad and 434 left, leaving the latest net migration figure at 99.

That means Ceredigion’s migrant population is still rising, but at a slower rate than before the referendum.

Fewer people are emigrating to Ceredigion from abroad, while more are moving away.

In Powys from July 2015 to June 2016, 150 more long-term migrants arrived from abroad in Powys than left.

In the 12 months after Brexit that figure dropped by 20.

In total, 385 people moved to Powys from abroad and 255 left, leaving the latest net migration figure at 130.

While the figures do not give details of where migrants came from, the latest national figures, for 2017-18, show EU migration is at its lowest level since 2012.

Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford said: “The UK has clearly become a less attractive country for EU migrants since the referendum.

“The lower value of the pound means that workers coming here for higher wages are getting less than they were in the past, and economic conditions in many of the key EU countries of origin have improved a lot over the past few years.

“Uncertainty about the implications of Brexit may have played a role.”

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