Figures from a new study have revealed that half of the nearly five million illegal immigrants living in Europe are in either the United Kingdom or Germany. Most are military-aged young men.

In 2017, the estimated number of illegal immigrants living in Europe stood between 3.9 and 4.8 million. Of that number, despite being free to move between European countries unimpeded, the overwhelming majority – 70 percent – of illegal immigrants chose to live in just four countries, while 50 percent live in two, the UK and Germany.

The same study, which was carried out by the Pew Research Center, discovered that slightly over half of the nearly 5 million illegals living in Europe were men, while 65 percent are under the age of 35.

Pew Research Center, which found that of the 500 million individuals living across the 32 European countries, 3.9 to 4.8 million were illegal immigrants. That, compared to 3 to 3.7 million illegals who were recorded in 2014 as living in Europe.

Germany, the United Kingdom, France, and Italy – which together comprise half of the total European population– house 70 percent of the total number of illegal immigrants. The UK and Germany together account for about 50 percent of Europe’s illegal immigrants.

— Mark Hugo Lopez (@mhugolopez) November 13, 2019

Close to 30 percent of the illegal immigrants come from Asian Muslim countries like Afghanistan and Pakistan. 23 percent come from countries considered European, like Russia or Turkey. 21 percent come from countries from the Middle East and North Africa, like Iraq or Syria, while the final 17 percent come from Sub-Saharan African countries like Eritrea and Nigeria.

On average, one in five migrants living in Europe is here illegally. That figure varies from country to country, however, with one in two migrants in the UK living there illegally.

Reference: Voiceofeurope.com