The Guardian reports a study done by the thinktank the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) about the contribution of skilled migrants towards British ecomony:

A record number of highly skilled migrant workers such as nurses and teachers will enter Britain over the next four years, contributing an estimated £77bn to the country’s economy, according to new research by an economic thinktank.

The study, compiled by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) for a global recruitment consultancy, Harvey Nash, concludes that skilled migrants fill skills shortages and without them the country’s international competitiveness could suffer. It estimates that these migrants, the majority of whom work in education, health and government services, already account for 2.5% of the country’s workforce and generate more than £36bn for the economy in what they produce.

However, the report, entitled Future Flows, forecasts that this will rise to 2.8% and £46bn in 2012, based on economic trends and predicted demands for professionals such as nurses and IT specialists. The CEBR report forecasts that there will be 812,000 such migrants in the UK by 2012, an increase of 14% on the 715,000 in 2007.

Read the full story.