Mass immigration has brought financial benefits of just 4p a week to every person in Britain, according to an analysis by Migrationwatch.

The campaign group dismissed government claims that large-scale migration had boosted the economy by £4 billion a year. It calculates that the benefit is just £2.10 a year per inhabitant.Sir Andrew Green, the group’s chairman, surveyed international studies on the economics of migration and concluded: “The contribution of immigrants to the economy is very slight indeed. Many immigrants make a useful contribution to the economy, but taken in total the benefit is at best marginal.

“The main beneficiaries are the migrants themselves, who are able to send home about £10 million a day.”

A Home Office spokesman attacked the report, saying: “Overall, migration is good for employment and good for the economy.” A spokewoman for the Confederation of British Industry added: “Migrants to the UK bring valuable skills and ideas with them and help to fill job vacancies where Britons are unable or unwilling to do so.”

There is growing disquiet among MPs about the impact that large-scale immigration is having on wages and unemployment. The Bank of England has said that immigration is helping to keep down wages, while unemployment is now at the highest rate for six years. Unemployment among 16 to 24-year-olds, who compete most directly with unskilled Eastern European immigrants, is now higher than it was when Labour came to power in 1997.

Limits have been imposed on workers from Bulgaria and Romania, which joined the EU on Monday. In 2004, when eight Eastern European countries joined the EU, the Goverment adopted an open-door policy, estimating that just 13,000 people would come here each year to work. So far, more than 600,000 have done so.

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