It has now been a decade since the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union in a referendum held on June 23, 2016.
At the time, the Leave campaign presented three core promises: regaining control of immigration policy, freeing up more fiscal resources for the National Health Service, and fostering economic prosperity through new trade deals.
This analysis uses data and charts to examine the political and economic shifts that have unfolded in the UK since that pivotal vote.
On June 23, 2016, British citizens went to the polls to vote on whether the country should remain a member of the European Union.
The result, announced the following day, was a surprise: 52% voted to leave, while 48% voted to remain. The pound sterling plummeted, and the FTSE 100 index in London fell sharply. Prime Minister David Cameron, who had called the referendum and campaigned to remain, announced his resignation.
This triggered a protracted period of Brexit negotiations. His successor, Theresa May, failed three times to get her Brexit deal through Parliament and ultimately resigned. It was not until 2020, under Prime Minister Boris Johnson, that the UK formally completed its departure from the EU.
During the campaign, supporters pledged that Brexit would allow the UK to take back control of its borders, increase funding for healthcare, and sign new trade agreements with countries around the world.
A decade on, the repercussions of that decision continue to permeate many aspects of daily life in Britain. The following charts and data illustrate the changes in the UK's political and economic landscape since the vote.
How Brexit Has Impacted UK Economic Growth
Brexit severed the UK's close economic ties with its largest trading partner, the EU, but the anticipated economic dividend has failed to materialise.
While global shocks like the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022 have hampered growth worldwide, Stanford University professor Nicholas Bloom estimates that Brexit has already reduced UK GDP by 6% to 8% as of 2025.
He attributes this negative impact to a combination of elevated policy uncertainty, reduced demand, significant management time spent navigating Brexit-related issues, and the misallocation of resources caused by the prolonged process.
Post-Brexit Changes to UK Immigration Patterns
The Leave campaign promised to regain control of immigration policy, but leaving the EU has yielded some unintended consequences. The UK is now experiencing a net outflow of people to EU countries, while immigration from non-EU countries has surged, driven by domestic labour shortages, an expansion in international student numbers, and emergency visa schemes for countries like Ukraine.
Concurrently, the number of EU citizens moving to the UK has fallen significantly, turning net migration from the EU negative.
In a briefing published in May, the UK immigration observatory noted: "The post-Brexit immigration system has substantially reduced routes for EU citizens to work and settle in the UK. Net migration from the EU turned negative in 2022. Since Brexit, there has been consistently low demand from EU citizens for UK work visas."
The Trajectory of the Pound Sterling
The exchange rate of the pound sterling serves as a key barometer of Brexit's impact. The currency plunged after the referendum result, and to this day, it has not recovered its pre-referendum highs against the euro or the US dollar. Data from foreign exchange services firm Convera shows the pound is currently around 10% lower on average compared to June 2016.
The firm's statistics indicate that since the referendum, the average GBP/EUR exchange rate has been £1.16 per euro, compared to £1.27 per euro in the decade before the vote. Post-referendum, the pound has traded below £1.20 per euro on 98% of trading days.
Given the UK's high dependence on imports of food, energy, and raw materials, the weaker pound has directly increased the cost of imported goods and overseas assets, significantly raising the cost of living for British households.
Performance of the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 Indices
The divergent performance of the multinational-heavy FTSE 100 index and the more domestically-focused FTSE 250 index reflects the sluggish recovery of London's capital markets.
Chris Smith, UK Growth Fund Manager at Jupiter Asset Management, stated: "Beneath the surface, the UK stock market still bears the scars of the Brexit decision, with both business and investor confidence damaged. The FTSE 100, with its global revenue streams and advantageous sector mix, has significantly outperformed the FTSE 250, whose constituents are deeply reliant on the UK market. A weaker pound, exchange-rate-driven inflation, and rising corporate borrowing costs have made the operating environment for UK-focused businesses increasingly difficult."
Both UK indices have significantly lagged the performance of US stock markets, which have enjoyed a prolonged bull run fuelled by technology and artificial intelligence stocks.
Mark Prescott, a Portfolio Manager at Morningstar, commented: "A decade on, the UK market is largely where it was, with the leading companies of ten years ago still dominating today. In contrast, the US market has seen faster sector evolution and company turnover, leading to more structural growth in its indices."
Changes in UK-EU Trade Patterns
The EU remains the UK's largest trading partner, with total bilateral trade exceeding €800 billion.
In 2025, 41% of UK exports went to the EU, while 50% of UK imports came from the bloc. A new Trade and Cooperation Agreement came into force on January 1, 2021, eliminating tariffs and quotas on trade between the UK and the EU.
Political Instability and Prime Ministerial Turnover
David Cameron resigned the day after the referendum result, having served as Prime Minister for six years. His predecessor, Gordon Brown, served for three years, and Tony Blair before him for a decade.
Since the national referendum, no Prime Minister has served a full term of more than three years, with one lasting just 49 days in office.
The current Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, who had sought to rebuild relations with Europe, announced his resignation on Monday after facing a leadership challenge from party rival Andy Burnham, paving the way for the UK's seventh Prime Minister in ten years.
Comments