The information requested falls with the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated June 2008:"As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking for the top 20 nationalities in the category, Rest of the World in table three of the ONS document, Employment of Foreign Workers in the United Kingdom (1997 to 2008) in each year since 1997. [207629]""The Office for National Statistics provided the information in table three of the article using the Labour Force Survey (LFS). The National Statistics method for estimating the number of migrant workers employed in the UK is based on the number of people at a given time who were born outside the UK, age 16 or over, and in employment. This question has been answered on this basis. It means, for example, that some people who are UK nationals will be included in the total. Those in employment are defined following International Labour Organisation definitions.""Table 1, attached, shows estimates of the total number of persons employed who were born outside the UK, for the top 20 countries that were part of the Rest of the World category in table 3, for the time period requested. It should be noted that the EU15 (the UK and 14 European Union member States) and the eight countries that joined the EU in 2004 are excluded from the top 20 ranking.""As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty. This should be taken into account when basing conclusions on the ranking of the countries provided." Employment levels¹ of the top 20 foreign countries of birth², ³ from excluding the EU15 and A8 1997 to 20084 Thousand Rank Country Levels 1997 1 India 197 2 Pakistan 80 3 Kenya 76 4 Jamaica 63 5 USA 62 6 South Africa 54 7 Australia 49 8 Bangladesh 42 9 Hong Kong 39 10 Canada 35 11 Uganda 32 12 Nigeria 32 13 Singapore 29 14 New Zealand 29 15 Cyprus 28 16 Ghana 25 17 Tanzania 25 18 Malaysia 24 19 Sri Lanka 22 20 Philippines 22 1998 1 India 224 2 Kenya 89 3 Pakistan 75 4 USA 75 5 Jamaica 69 6 South Africa 55 7 Australia 45 8 Hong Kong 44 9 Bangladesh 44 10 Canada 42 11 Uganda 40 12 Cyprus 35 13 Nigeria 33 14 New Zealand 32 15 Sri Lanka 28 16 Malaysia 26 17 Tanzania 25 18 Singapore 25 19 Ghana 23 20 Zimbabwe 21 1999 1 India 210 2 Kenya 92 3 USA 82 4 Pakistan 80 5 South Africa 68 6 Jamaica 56 7 Bangladesh 55 8 Australia 52 9 Nigeria 44 10 Canada 42 11 Cyprus 38 12 Hong Kong 37 13 New Zealand 36 14 Singapore 32 15 Uganda 32 16 Ghana 27 17 Sri Lanka 26 18 Tanzania 19 19 Malaysia 19 20 Zimbabwe 19 2000 1 India 209 2 Pakistan 100 3 Kenya 81 4 Australia 77 5 United States 70 6 South Africa 69 7 Jamaica 54 8 Bangladesh 44 9 Nigeria 41 10 Sri Lanka 36 11 Cyprus 33 12 Canada 32 13 New Zealand 29 14 Hong Kong 28 15 Malaysia 27 16 Singapore 27 17 Uganda 26 18 Turkey 26 19 Zanzibar (Tanzania) 25 20 Malta 24 2001 1 India 202 2 Kenya 98 3 Pakistan 97 4 South Africa 89 5 United States 86 6 Australia 70 7 Bangladesh 59 8 Jamaica 58 9 Nigeria 45 10 Uganda 38 11 Hong Kong 37 12 Philippines 37 13 New Zealand 36 14 Canada 36 15 Sri Lanka 36 16 Cyprus 34 17 Zimbabwe 33 18 Singapore 29 19 Ghana 28 20 Malaysia 27 2002 1 India 203 2 Pakistan 110 3 South Africa 90 4 Kenya 83 5 United States 78 6 Jamaica 70 7 Australia 69 8 Bangladesh 59 9 Sri Lanka 51 10 Nigeria 45 11 New Zealand 44 12 Zimbabwe 43 13 Hong Kong 43 14 Canada 39 15 Malaysia 35 16 Uganda 34 17 Cyprus 34 18 Philippines 33 19 Singapore 31 20 Ghana 30 2003 1 India 230 2 South Africa 114 3 Pakistan 107 4 Kenya 85 5 United States 81 6 Australia 77 7 Bangladesh 57 8 Zimbabwe 54 9 Jamaica 53 10 Canada 52 11 Nigeria 50 12 Philippines 44 13 New Zealand 42 14 Ghana 42 15 Sri Lanka 40 16 Hong Kong 38 17 Uganda 38 18 Malaysia 38 19 Cyprus 31 20 Singapore 30 2004 1 India 233 2 South Africa 134 3 Pakistan 104 4 Kenya 85 5 Bangladesh 83 6 United States 78 7 Australia 73 8 Jamaica 60 9 Zimbabwe 57 10 Hong Kong 54 11 Nigeria 50 12 Philippines 47 13 New Zealand 42 14 Canada 41 15 Ghana 40 16 Sri Lanka 38 17 Uganda 35 18 Singapore 34 19 Turkey 30 20 Malaysia 29 2005 1 India 258 2 South Africa 134 3 Australia 100 4 Pakistan 92 5 Kenya 88 6 United States 86 7 Bangladesh 72 8 Zimbabwe 72 9 Jamaica 61 10 Sri Lanka 55 11 Canada 53 12 Philippines 52 13 Nigeria 52 14 New Zealand 51 15 Ghana 50 16 Hong Kong 49 17 Uganda 46 18 Cyprus 41 19 Malaysia 40 20 Singapore 30 2006 1 India 315 2 South Africa 135 3 Pakistan 106 4 United States 101 5 Kenya 91 6 Australia 90 7 Bangladesh 86 8 Zimbabwe 74 9 Nigeria 74 10 Philippines 64 11 Ghana 63 12 Sri Lanka 58 13 Jamaica 56 14 Hong Kong 43 15 Cyprus 41 16 Canada 41 17 Uganda 39 18 New Zealand 38 19 Malaysia 38 20 China 37 2007 1 India 324 2 Pakistan 149 3 South Africa 132 4 United States 110 5 Nigeria 98 6 Bangladesh 93 7 Kenya 85 8 Australia 83 9 Jamaica 73 10 Zimbabwe 70 11 Ghana 70 12 Philippines 66 13 Sri Lanka 61 14 New Zealand 44 15 Canada 39 16 Hong Kong 38 17 Malaysia 34 18 Uganda 34 19 China 32 20 Turkey 31 2008 1 India 326 2 Pakistan 168 3 South Africa 154 4 United States 104 5 Australia 95 6 Nigeria 95 7 Kenya 92 8 Jamaica 72 9 Philippines 69 10 Zimbabwe 68 11 Bangladesh 66 12 Sri Lanka 66 13 Ghana 59 14 Hong Kong 50 15 China 50 16 New Zealand 38 17 Brazil 38 18 Uganda 35 19 Romania 33 20 Malaysia 33 ¹ Levels of employment are provided for the population aged 16 and over. ² The country of birth question in the LFS may undercount foreign born because: it excludes students in halls of residence who do not have a UK resident parent it excludes people in most types of communal establishments (e.g. hotels, boarding houses, hostels, mobile home sites) it is grossed to population estimates that only include long-term migrants (staying 12 months or more). ³ Countries not included include the UK, EU14 and A8 countries. 4 The figures presented are weighted to population estimates published in 2007. Source: Labour Force Survey