Fewer EU citizens are registering for national insurance numbers in Gravesham and Dartford than before the Brexit vote, the latest figures reveal.

The statistics, from the Department for Work and Pensions, show how many foreign nationals have successfully applied for NI numbers, which are required to work or claim benefits.

In the 12 months up to March this year 876 people from the EU registered for NI numbers in Gravesham, in Dartford the figure was 514.

In the year before June 2016, the month of the referendum, this compared to 1,258 and 799 respectively.

The data divides the European workers into three groups.

It identifies people from the EU15, which are countries that joined the bloc before 2004, like France, Spain and Germany.

The EU8 countries joined in the 2004 enlargement, and include nations such as Poland and the Czech Republic. The EU2, Romania and Bulgaria, joined in 2007, but could not move to the UK to work until 2014.

The biggest drop in new workers registering post Brexit was by those from the EU8 countries. In the 12 months up to March, 308 EU8 citizens signed up for NI numbers, 215 fewer than before the Brexit vote. Of residents from the EU15, 73 fewer registered.

And the number of Romanians and Bulgarians registering for NI numbers, reduced by 94 or 18%. The data does not explain why the numbers have reduced.

It could be due to post-Brexit uncertainty or other factors such as the improvement of the economies in residents’ home countries.

The number of applicants from outside the EU has slightly decreased. A total of 190 people from the rest of the world registered for NI numbers in the 12 months up to March, a drop of three on the period before Brexit. From outside of Europe, the region with the highest number of applications was Sub Saharan Africa, with 61 registrations.

This, combined with a drop in the number of EU citizens applying, has contributed to a drop in the overall number of foreign nationals applying for NI numbers.

In the 12 months up to March a total of 1,067 people gained an NI number. This was a decrease of 387 on the 12 months before the Brexit vote.