Abuja (Nigeria): British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Richard Montgomery, has disclosed that the people of Nigerian descent or nationality in the UK has risen from 300,000 in 2021 to 550,000 in 2025.
The High Commissioner stated this on Wednesday in Abuja, where, according to him, on account of the increase in the number of Nigerian descendants in the UK, the most populous black nation is one of the countries that benefited the most from Britain’s exit from the European Union (EU), better known as Brexit.
“In 2021, we had an estimate that there were 300,000 people of Nigerian descent or nationality in the UK, a diaspora of 300,000, and now that has risen to 550,000,” said Montgomery.
He added that UK-Nigeria trade and investment relationships are currently being built on a post-Brexit set of rules that bolster trade ties with the potential for mutual economic benefits.
Montgomery said Brexit had allowed more Nigerians to come and live, work, and study in the UK, culminating in the number of diaspora Nigerians in the UK increasing from 300,000 in 2021 to 550,000 in 2025.
In relation to the Nigeria-UK relationship, Nigeria has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of Brexit in terms of our visa regime, which has allowed more Nigerians to come and live, work and study in the UK.
“In 2021, we had an estimate that there were 300,000 people of Nigerian descent or nationality in the UK, a diaspora of 300,000, and now that has risen to 550,000.
“The diaspora from Nigeria has increased partly because of the post-Brexit immigration regime. So Nigeria has been a big beneficiary of Brexit,” he said.
The British envoy explained that following Britain’s exit from Europe, the UK has undergone a realignment in its economic relationships and gained the freedom to negotiate trade deals with a broader range of countries outside the EU.
“So, Brexit is something that has caused a realignment in a lot of our economic relationships, and some of those may look positive and some of them may look negative.
Overall, the UK has significantly more independence and freedom to negotiate trade deals with countries outside the EU.
“At the moment I’d say the most obvious example is that our relationship with the U.S. is particularly constructive and is leading to these massive U.S. investments in the UK because of the economic freedoms enabled by Brexit,” he said.
