Although Britain has always had a large number of immigrants, the expansion of the British Empire brought people from every corner of the world to its shores. On these pages, I will look at the history of these immigrants from the early beginnings of the Empire until the years of the Commonwealth.
| Migrant Group | Pre-1945 | Post-1945 | Total |
| Africans* | 10,000 | 1,000,000 | 1,010,000 |
| Americans* | 70,000 | 250,000 | 320,000 |
| Arabs* | 10,000 | 290,000 | 300,000 |
| Belgians | 240,000 | 40,000 | 280,000 |
| Chinese | 20,000 | 320,000 | 340,000 |
| Cypriots* | 2,000 | 80,000 | 82,000 |
| French | 40,000 | 100,000 | 140,000 |
| Germans | 100,000 | 300,000 | 400,000 |
| Hungarians | 2,000 | 38,000 | 40,000 |
| Irish* | 1,500,000 | 700,000 | 2,200,000 |
| Italians | 40,000 | 160,000 | 200,000 |
| Jews | 220,000 | 80,000 | 300,000 |
| Poles | 5,000 | 500,000 | 505,000 |
| South Asians* | 20,000 | 1,000,000 | 1,020,000 |
| West Indians* | 10,000 | 400,000 | 410,000 |
| Others | 50,000 | 1,000,000 | 1,000,000 |
| Total | 2,339,000 | 6,231,000 | 8,570,000 |