Over three quarters of new jobs created in the UK over the last decade have gone to foreign citizens new figures reveal.

The Statistics Commission said 80% of the 2.7 million new jobs created in the UK between 1997 and 2007 went to people born outside the UK, with just 300,000 going to people born in the UK. 

The government had previously claimed that just 800,000 of the jobs had gone to foreign citizens, though this was then revised to 1.1 million.

In its report the Statistics Commission, which was set up by the government to verify official figures, explained the discrepancy between the latest two figures.

"The 1.1 million figure is calculated using estimates made in 2003 of what the population would be in 2007.

"However, the increase in the employment level since 1997 [the 2.7 million], was calculated using population estimates made in 2005 of what the population would be in 2007."