Immigrants to the UK since 2000 have made a "substantial" contribution to public finances, a study by University College London (UCL) says.

The research by UCL said recent immigrants were less likely to claim benefits and live in social housing than people born in Britain, informs BBC.

Immigrants who arrived after 1999 were 45% less likely to receive state benefits or tax credits than UK natives in the period 2000-2011, according to the report by Prof Christian Dustmann and Dr Tommaso Frattini from UCL's Centre for Research and Analysis of Migration, reports BBC.

"Given this evidence, claims about "benefit tourism" by EEA immigrants seem to be disconnected from reality", says Prof Christian Dustmann, one of the authors of the survey for BBC.

“Restrictions are being discussed as part of the current debate on immigration in the UK in regard to Bulgaria and Romania. It is thus surprising that there is so little research that provides substantive evidence on immigrants’ fiscal contribution.”, says the report with the name “The Fiscal Effects of Immigration to the UK” in regards of Bulgarian and Romanian immigrants to Britain.

The authors say that immigrants contribute to UK’s public finances.

"Our study suggests that over the last decade or so, the UK has benefited fiscally from immigrants from EEA countries (countries from the European Economic Area - the EU plus Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein) who have put in considerably more in taxes and contributions than they received in benefits and transfers”, says Prof Christian Dustmann, as cited by BBC.

The whole study can be read HERE