The population has fluctuated considerably as workers from the former communist dictatorship moved into western Europe; some of those workers are accused of having been in countries like Britain without valid visas, one of the sources of recent rows over immigration controls.

The 2001 census recorded little over 7,500 people in Britain who had been born in Romania. By and large, the numbers outside London were so small � all less than 50 per local area - they are not recognisable clusters in any way comparable with other immigrant groups.