HC Deb 22 June 2004 vol 422 cc1382-3W
Mr. Paice

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many work permits have been granted in each year since 1979, broken down by(a) country, (b) occupational earnings category and (c) duration of employment. [177101]

Mr. Browne

[holding answer 8 June 2004]: The number of work permits granted in each year since 1995 broken down by (a) country and (b) duration of employment is as follows:

All work permit applications approved by the top 10 nationalities and others by calendar year
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 Total
Canada 1,731 1,981 2,242 2,384 2,619 3,272 3,528 3,780 3,701 25,238
China 1,161 1,155 1,227 1,420 1,624 2,309 3,307 4,585 5,830 22,618
Pakistan 601 568 752 851 1,022 1,709 3,107 4,006 5,392 18,008
New Zealand 602 627 713 1,141 1,415 2,200 3,376 3,492 3,027 16,593
Others 13,817 13,673 15,596 18,319 20,729 26,770 37,325 44,653 53,789 244,671
Total 44,376 48,012 54,450 64,551 72,693 102,172 136,780 154,443 166,968 844,445

All work permit applications approved by duration of permit by calendar year
Duration 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003
under 1 year 5,829 5,878 7,048 7,938 6,466 9,802 11,560 11,895 11,419
1-2 years 4,422 5,269 7,065 9,008 10,097 13,726 16,517 16,429 24,182
2-3 years 4,508 5,676 6,883 7,876 10,917 18,190 22,379 24,032 19,738
3-4 years 4,570 4,975 6,035 6,464 7,142 10,139 10,666 9,896 10,355
4-5 years 2,892 3,558 4,662 6,580 8,546 14,866 29,087 39,056 47,989
Others 22,155 22,656 22,757 26,685 29,525 35,451 46,572 53,135 53,287
Total 44,376 48,012 54,450 64,551 72,693 102,174 136,781 154,443 166,970

No figures are available for the years preceding 1995. No figures are available showing occupational earnings categories.