LONDON — The United Kingdom is more likely than any other country in the world to cite immigration as its top national problem. In 2025, just over one in five Britons (21%) named immigration as their No. 1 concern, statistically tied with mentions of the economy (23%).
By contrast, immigration barely registers as a top issue elsewhere. In only six other countries — the Netherlands (13%), Cyprus (13%), Portugal (12%), Malta (12%), Ireland (11%) and the Dominican Republic (11%) — do at least one in 10 adults name immigration as the most important national problem. It is not the top issue in any of them.
According to the inaugural World’s Most Important Problem report, a median of just 1% across 107 countries cite immigration as their biggest issue. Far more people globally say problems related to the economy (23%), work (10%), politics (8%), or safety and security (7%) are the most important issues facing their country.
Gallup has asked the "most important problem" question in the U.S. in some fashion for 90 years, but asked it globally for the first time in 2025. Its value lies in its open-ended nature, which allows people to voice their opinions in their own words, with interviewers then categorizing their answers. It shows which issues are most salient in comparison to all others, giving a sense of what is cutting through in the national mood.
Concern Outsized Compared With Overall Levels of Migration
In countries where at least 5% of adults cite immigration as the top issue, there is no clear relationship with the proportion of foreign-born residents.
For example, the U.K. has a similar percentage of its population born overseas (17%) as the U.S. (15%), Norway (18%) and the Netherlands (16%), but adults in those countries are less likely to name immigration as the most important national problem. This disconnect suggests that factors beyond migration numbers alone shape immigration concerns.
Net migration — the number of people moving to the U.K. minus the number of people leaving — has also fallen sharply in the past two years. Provisional estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggest that net migration was 204,000 in the year ending June 2025, down from nearly 650,000 in the year ending June 2024. The years after Brexit saw a significant rise in net migration and in the number of non-EU citizens coming to the U.K. because of policy changes made by the previous Conservative government.
Even though net migration has been falling, the cumulative impact of the recent spike could be contributing to a lag effect in concern. Moreover, topics related to immigration dominated the news agenda last year, including small boat crossings, migrant hotels, and reforms to the migration system. The 21% of Britons naming immigration as the country’s top problem may reflect this sustained level of national media attention.
Reform UK Supporters Twice as Concerned About Immigration as Supporters of Other European Parties
High concern about immigration in the U.K. is largely driven by supporters of Reform UK, which is leading many national voting intention polls. Almost half of Reform UK supporters (48%) say immigration is the biggest problem facing the U.K., twice the percentage among supporters of any other major political party across Europe.
The Chapel Hill Expert Survey (CHES) plots parties across a left-right ideological continuum based on expert opinion. On this scale, Reform UK scores a 9.2 — firmly on the right. Yet Reform UK supporters express far more concern about immigration than backers of other right-wing parties across Europe.
However, concern about immigration is not limited only to Reform UK supporters. Conservative Party supporters are more concerned (23%) than other right-of-center parties in Europe, and Labour Party supporters also express more concern (16%) than almost any other left-of-center political party.
Supporters of other right-wing parties in Europe are more concerned about other issues than immigration. Those who identify with the Brothers of Italy and the National Rally in France are relatively more concerned about economic issues; supporters of Vox in Spain and the Slovenian Democratic Party are more likely to name political issues; and supporters of Fidesz in Hungary are more concerned about safety and security.
Supporters of the U.K.’s three major parties all express higher levels of concern about immigration than supporters of other ideologically similar European parties, albeit with a much larger gap among Reform UK supporters than Labour or Conservative. But concern is also unusually high among Britons who do not identify with any political party when compared with nonpartisans in other countries.
One in four U.K. adults (25%) who do not support a political party name immigration as the most important problem facing their country, roughly twice as high as the next highest levels of concern among the politically unaligned in Poland (13%) and Ireland (13%).
However, Labour and Conservative supporters, as well as nonpartisans, are all more likely to name economic issues than immigration as the top national issue.
What Drives Concern About Immigration in the U.K.?
Reform UK supporters — the most likely to see immigration as the top national problem — have distinct demographic characteristics compared with supporters of other parties. This raises an important question: How much do political attitudes shape views on immigration independently of factors like age or education, which themselves correlate with political preferences?
Gallup analysis, accounting for a range of demographic and attitudinal factors, identifies five key predictors of immigration concern:
- Support for Reform UK is the strongest driver of immigration concern, even after accounting for other demographic factors. (Note: The numbers presented in the following chart are based on predicted scores from regression models, so they may differ slightly from those reported elsewhere in the article.)
- Political non-affiliation also strongly predicts concern: Those who don't support any major U.K. party are more likely to prioritize immigration, compared with the national average.
- Adults aged 55 and older are far more concerned than younger adults about immigration, accounting for other demographics and political attitudes.
- Adults with less education are more likely than those with higher education (defined as having completed tertiary education) to name immigration as the country’s top problem.
- Those who are “getting by” on their household income are more concerned about immigration than people who are “living comfortably,” “finding it difficult” or “finding it very difficult.”
Several factors show no statistically significant relationship with immigration concern after controlling for other variables. These include support for the other major political parties, as well as gender, employment status, whether people live in urban or rural areas, personal wellbeing, and actual household income.
The disconnect between objective and subjective economic position is notable. The fact that people “getting by” prioritize immigration more than those in acute hardship suggests concern peaks not at the bottom of the income distribution, but among those who feel their wallets aren’t quite as full as they could be.
Despite High Levels of National Concern, Most Britons Say Immigration Is a Good Thing
Between 2016 and 2023, Gallup asked U.K. adults three questions about their acceptance of migrants on four separate occasions. Across all three measures, Britons grew gradually more accepting over time: By 2023, 80% viewed immigrants living in the U.K. as a good thing, 79% were comfortable with an immigrant as a neighbor, and 75% accepted the idea of an immigrant marrying a close relative.
These historical figures present a contrast with 2025 polling in the U.K., which shows outsized concern about immigration compared with the rest of the world. In the Netherlands, Portugal and Ireland — other Western European countries with relatively high levels of concern about immigration — similar proportions in 2023 said immigrants were a good thing as in the U.K.
While these findings come from different surveys and are not directly comparable, the historical stability of acceptance suggests that positive attitudes toward individual migrants could remain at notable levels.
If so, this would indicate that concern about immigration as a national issue can coexist with personal acceptance of migrants. One possible interpretation is that some Britons distinguish between their views on individual migrants and their concerns about broader issues such as immigration levels, system capacity or policy implementation.
Bottom Line
Though the economy ties as Britons’ top concern, immigration is seen as a bigger national problem in the U.K. than anywhere else Gallup surveys. This high level of concern is driven less by material deprivation, region or urbanicity, and more by political attitudes, generational divides and subjective insecurity.
These findings highlight the balancing act facing Prime Minister Keir Starmer on immigration as he seeks to close Reform UK's lead in the polls. Despite holding few parliamentary seats, Nigel Farage’s party has been setting the political weather for months and attracting several high-profile Conservative defections this year.
The importance that Reform supporters place on immigration stands out globally. While concern about immigration is also high among Labour and Conservative Party supporters and nonpartisans, they all still say economic issues matter more.
Even though the next general election is many years away, local elections are on the immediate horizon. If turnout is high among Reform supporters and the non-aligned, and they go to the polls with immigration top of mind, it could increase headwinds for the current government.
Read the full report: The World’s Most Important Problem: What People Need Leaders to Hear in 2026.
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For complete methodology and specific survey dates, please review Gallup's Country Data Set details. Learn more about how the Gallup World Poll works.
