The impact of immigration on the public finances is an important influence on public opinion. This paper aims to provide a thorough conceptual survey, pointing out the complexities of a full understanding and the relevance of indirect effects and covering both static perspectives and longer run dynamic issues. It considers simple accounting approaches which are relatively neglectful of behavioural responses but also tries to bring out the complexities in the nature of the relationship between rates of immigration and the public exchequer that come with more sophisticated modelling of its economic effects.
Authors

Research Fellow University College London
Ian is a Research Fellow of the IFS and a Professor of Economics at UCL. He joined UCL in 1991 and has been attached to the IFS since 1990.
Report details
- DOI
- 10.1920/re.ifs.2024.0626
- Publisher
- Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration
Suggested citation
Preston, I. (2013). The Effect of Immigration on Public Finances. London: Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration. Available at: https://ifs.org.uk/publications/effect-immigration-public-finances (accessed: 15 February 2025).
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