10 years after Brexit: How Britain changed through charts and data

On June 23, 2016, exactly a decade ago, in a closely fought referendum, more than half of Britons voted to leave the European Union after years of campaigning that Britain would be better off outside the bloc.

A decade later, the promises made during the referendum campaign have largely not come true. Research shows the UK economy is smaller than it would have been without Brexit, immigration is higher, and compared to similar nations, Britain is falling behind.

What was Brexit?

To understand Brexit, one must look back long before the vote and examine how the UK's relationship with Europe evolved. In 1973, due to sluggish economic growth, Britain joined the European Economic Community (EEC), a trade bloc of six members. According to data from the Centre for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), UK GDP per capita in 1950 was nearly 30% higher than that of EEC countries, but by 1973 it was about 10% lower.

Skepticism about deeper European integration never disappeared in the following decades—and was not limited to the right. The Labour Party's 1983 general election manifesto called for withdrawal from the EEC, reflecting a left-wing view of the bloc as a barrier to socialism, before the party reversed course after a heavy defeat that year.

By the early 2010s, pressure from euroskeptic MPs within Prime Minister David Cameron's Conservative Party, combined with the growing electoral threat from Nigel Farage's UK Independence Party (UKIP), pushed Cameron into a political gamble: a promise to hold a referendum on EU membership if he won re-election.

On June 23, 2016, the vote took place, but the result was not as expected.

The results were as follows:

• Overall: 51.9% voted to leave, 48.1% voted to remain
• England: 53% leave
• Wales: 53% leave
• Northern Ireland: 44% leave
• Scotland: 38% leave

Small towns and rural areas tended to vote leave, while major cities tended to vote remain.

Who supported and who opposed?

The referendum divided British politics and was clearly reflected in Cameron's own cabinet. Cameron led the Remain campaign alongside Chancellor George Osborne, backed by most of the Conservative Party, Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and the Scottish National Party.

On the Leave side, senior Conservatives such as Boris Johnson and Michael Gove, both cabinet ministers, supported Brexit. Nigel Farage, whose party had pushed for the referendum from the start, campaigned vigorously for Brexit and later founded the Brexit Party, now Reform UK, in 2018.

After the Leave result was announced, Cameron resigned, and Theresa May took over the task of implementing Brexit but failed to get her withdrawal agreement through parliament in 2019. Boris Johnson succeeded her and oversaw the UK's departure from the EU on January 31, 2020.

What happened to the economy?

Over the past decade, the UK's real GDP per capita—the total value of goods and services produced in the country, adjusted for inflation, per person—has lagged behind the 27 EU member states. By 2025, the UK was 5 index points below the bloc on the same 2016 baseline. Economists forecast average annual growth of just 1.3% for 2026-2030, reflecting the lingering impact of trade barriers and structural changes.

Business investment in the UK has followed a similar pattern. British companies sharply reduced investment after the 2016 vote, with some studies showing an investment shortfall of 12 to 18% compared to a no-Brexit scenario—a gap largely driven by years of political and legal uncertainty that delayed business decision-making.

According to the Office for Budget Responsibility, Brexit has reduced the country's productivity by about 4%.

Has UK trade improved?

According to the Office for Budget Responsibility, trade with Europe will be about 15% lower in the long term, and trade deals with non-EU countries have not made a significant difference. Leaving the EU meant leaving a system where goods moved freely across borders without checks, certification, or delays.

Under the current EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, British companies exporting to Europe must prove product origin, re-check goods certified in the UK, and handle paperwork that did not exist before 2021. Food exporters must comply with physical border checks, and businesses handling data must adhere to two sets of rules in the EU and the UK.

According to HSBC Global Investment Research, border checks alone cost the UK £4.7 billion ($5.9 billion) by 2024. Sanitary controls on food trade cost traders about £54 million ($71.5 million) annually. Large businesses can absorb the burden, but small ones cannot, and in some cases have stopped selling to the EU.

How did the pound's value change?

Within hours of the Leave result becoming clear, the pound fell more than 10% against the dollar, from $1.48 to $1.32. At the time, it was the largest one-day decline in modern history, hitting levels not seen since 1985. A weaker pound made imports more expensive, pushing up prices for British consumers. Investment banks, uncertain about the UK's future relationship with the EU, began moving operations to continental Europe. Ten years later, the pound has still not recovered to pre-Brexit levels.

Did immigration decrease?

Immigration did not fall as the Leave campaign had promised. Britain regained control of its borders, replacing free movement for EU citizens with a points-based immigration system. The impact on EU immigration was clear—net long-term migration with the EU was negative in 2022, meaning more EU citizens left than arrived. But lower EU immigration did not lead to lower overall immigration. Arrivals from non-EU countries surged to replace them, pushing total net migration to record highs in 2023. The figure later fell after tighter rules introduced in 2025, but remained higher than before Brexit.

How has the law changed?

As an EU member, thousands of European regulations automatically applied in UK law. After Brexit, all 6,800 regulations were copied into UK law to prevent legal gaps. A decade later, only a third have been amended or repealed. The government passed a special act—the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act—to help speed up changes, but it expires on June 23, 2026, meaning any further divergence from EU rules will go through a slower parliamentary process. However, leaving the EU allowed the UK to pass laws it could not enact as a member, including a ban on exporting live animals for slaughter, regaining control of territorial waters, and scrapping VAT on women's sanitary products.

How has public opinion on Brexit changed?

In the 2016 referendum, the country was deeply divided. A decade later, public opinion has shifted significantly. According to a YouGov poll in June 2026, 57% of Britons believe leaving the EU was the wrong decision, compared to 30% who think it was right. A separate Ipsos poll found that 52% of Britons think the UK should apply to rejoin the EU. About two-thirds of people aged 18 to 24—many of whom were too young to vote at the time—said they would vote to rejoin, compared to just over a third of those over 65.