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Almost 1.8 million people have moved to London from abroad over the last decade, new figures revealed today.
However the city proved less popular with British residents, and lost the largest number of people through internal migration of any area in the UK.
The Bank of Scotland research, published today, showed that between 1998 and 2007 nearly 2 million people moved out of the capital to other parts of Britain, while 1.6 million moved to it.
This two million was equivalent to more than a quarter (26%) of the city's population in 2007.
London was the only region of the UK to experience a net population loss, which was 344,558.
However, the capital's population was boosted over the 10 years to 2007 thanks to international immigration.
London experienced by far the biggest level of net international migration, with almost 1.8 million more people moving to London from abroad than have moved from the capital to live outside the
UK.
However over that decade deaths in the city and internal migration from London meant that the capital's population rose by only 370,000.
The South East of England was the most popular region for people to move to from elsewhere in the UK, leading to a net increase of 550,889.
More than 2.2 million people moved to the area, while almost 1.7 million left.
The South West recorded the second highest level of net internal migration, gaining 514,511 people.
Northern Ireland gained 10,681 residents through internal migration.
The North East and North West were the only UK regions to see an overall decline in their population, losing 26,000 and 27,000 respectively.
Martin Ellis, Bank of Scotland Chief Economist, said: "There have been significant population movements across the UK over the past ten years.
"Regions in southern England saw the largest gain from internal migration with the South East proving the most popular region for people to move to from elsewhere in the UK."
Internal migration has boosted Scotland's population by 157,757.
Between 1998 and 2007 the report showed that 542,524 people moved to Scotland from other regions of the UK, while only 384,767 left.
The report was based on data sourced from the 2008 Population Trends published by the Office for National Statistics.
