London, UK — The United Kingdom is losing about £4bn annually by failing to fully utilise the skills and qualifications of Nigerians and other African migrants living and working in the country. Beyond African migrants, the UK stands to gain up to £37 billion every year if workplace racial disparities affecting Black and Minority Ethnic workers were addressed.
This was revealed in the latest edition of The Insight Vodcast, a weekly news explainer produced by Adejuwon Soyinka, a UK based two-time Emmy nominated Nigerian investigative journalist.
Drawing on data from the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS), Oxford University’s Migration Observatory, the McGregor-Smith Review, Business in the Community (BITC), and a 2025 University College London (UCL) inequalities study, The Insight Vodcast exposes a persistent and costly pattern of underemployment, wage disparities, and systemic barriers facing African professionals in the UK.
The UK 2021 Census counted about 1.5 million Black African people in England and Wales. That’s around 2.5% of the population. Of this figure, around 270,000 were said to be Nigerians living in England and Wales. The figure has since grown with estimates suggesting around 300,000 Nigerians in the UK as at 2023 while another 52,000 migrated to the UK in 2024.
The timely and hard-hitting analysis revealed how based on data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Black African, Caribbean and Black British workers consistently earn less than their White peers, even with similar qualifications. The Insight Vodcast report revealed how, according to the Oxford University’s Migration Observatory, highly educated migrants are disproportionately funnelled into lower-skilled jobs.
A 2017 independent review by Baroness McGregor-Smith showed that fully utilising the talents of Black and Minority Ethnic workers could add £24 billion a year to the UK economy. There hasn’t been an improvement since then. A 2025 analysis by Business in the Community (BITC), a business-led charity founded by King Charles III, suggests the UK stands to gain up to £37 billion every year if workplace racial disparities were addressed.
“These are not isolated stories,” The Insight Vodcast reports. “They represent a national economic blind spot, one that quietly drains the UK of productivity, innovation, and tax revenue.”
The Insight Vodcast attributes the ongoing crisis to a combination of entrenched hiring bias and structural barriers. A landmark Oxford study showed that ethnic minority job seekers must submit 60% more applications to receive the same callback rates as White applicants, a trend University College London, UCL researchers confirm remains unchanged as of 2025.
The Insight Vodcast report warns that the real economic cost is likely far higher today than previously estimated, given population growth and rising wages.
This week’s episode of The Insight Vodcast investigates “The Hidden Bill: How the UK Wastes Billions by Under-Employing Skilled African Migrants”, and calls for urgent national attention. The episode argues that unlocking African migrant talent isn’t just a moral imperative, it’s a direct economic gain that could boost public services, strengthen the workforce, and stimulate long-term growth for the UK.
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