Rise fuelled by four-fold increase in benefit claims by Eastern Europeans. Biggest number of individual claimants were from Asia and the Middle East. Over five years total number of benefit claimants is up by more than 700,000.
Handouts: Benefit claims by foreign nationals have increased by more than 40 per cent in the past five years, taking the total number of non-British claimants to over 400,000, official figures show
Benefit claims by foreign nationals have increased by more than 40 per cent in the past five years, official figures show.
The astonishing increase has taken the number of non-Britons in receipt of benefits over 400,000 for the first time.
It means they are costing taxpayers billions of pounds a year.
The rise has been fuelled by a four-fold increase in benefit claims by Eastern Europeans, and sharp rises among African claimants.
The disclosure will lead to renewed debate about access to benefits by immigrants and concerns about benefit tourism.
It comes amid rising fears about the potential impact of tens of thousands of Romanians and Bulgarians who could come to Britain from January next year when restrictions on work and benefit claims must be dropped under an EU deadline.
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