Mike Jones, executive director of Migration Watch has branded the latest mass migration figure "devastating" but claimed he was "shocked and not surprised" by the result.
His comments come as Britain experienced the largest surge in migration among wealthy nations last year, with 746,900 new permanent- type migrants arriving in 2023, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
The figures represent a dramatic 52.9 per cent increase from 2022's total of 488,400 migrants.
Speaking to GB News, Jones explained: "This is shocking but not surprising.
Mike Jones said that the figures are "staggering"
GB News
"The numbers don't lie and the numbers are devastating. I mean, according to the OECD, we saw the largest percentage increase last year among permanent migrants.
"Amongst the rich countries, about 53 per cent. The only country that came close to this was South Korea, with Australia in a distant third.
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"As you said, in terms of raw numbers, we were second only to the United States..." Nigel Farage chimed in: "Which is six times bigger than we are."
He added: "So the figures are absolutely staggering."
Speaking about the shocking numbers, he said: "I mean, when people promote the economic benefits of immigration, they confuse elite immigration and mass immigration and GDP and GDP per capita.
"If you increase the size of your population, obviously the economic pie is getting bigger, but GDP per person doesn't necessarily increase.
UK takes in highest percentage of migrants among wealthy nations
GB News"In fact, mass migration can actually damage the economy. The last major study that was done on this by Oxford Economics, they found that it was a huge burden to the taxpayer in the financial year of 2016."
While the US welcomed 1.2 million new migrants in 2023, Britain's figure of 746,900 was just 500,000 lower.
Germany, which had held second place since 2012, dropped to third position with nearly 700,000 new permanent-type entries, despite a 4 per cent increase.
Canada followed with 470,000 new permanent migrants, representing a 7.8 per cent rise.
Mike Jones spoke to Nigel Farage on GB News
GB News
Spain recorded a 12 per cent increase to 360,000 new arrivals. Family migration saw a particularly sharp increase, with 373,000 new family migrants in 2023, marking a 60 per cent rise compared to 2022.
Seventy per cent of these family migrants were accompanying relatives of labour migrants.
The OECD report highlighted that health and care visa dependants accounted for the majority of this increase.
New care workers can no longer bring relatives to the UK as of March this year, following policy changes.
Separate figures revealed that foreign-born workers in the UK have reached a record high of 7 million, while British-born employment remains more than 800,000 below pre-Covid levels.
