LONDON, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- The UK employers are facing an acute shortage of workers caused by Brexit as official statistics show a sharp fall in the number of European Union (EU) citizens coming to the UK for work after the 2016 EU referendum.

EU net migration to the UK is the lowest since 2012 though 74,000 more people arrived in the UK than left in the year ending June 2018, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Migration for work remained the most common reason for migration. The statistics found immigration to the UK for work increased between 2012 and the year ending June 2016 to a peak of 312,000, but has been lower since and is now 242,000.

The decrease was largely accounted for by a fall in the number of EU citizens arriving looking for work, with 37,000 in the year ending June 2018, down from 82,000 at the peak two years earlier, the ONS said.

Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said: "EU migrants have been leaving in larger numbers since the referendum, and net inflows have greatly decreased. The lower value of the pound is likely to have made the UK a less attractive place to live and work and economic conditions in several of the top countries of origin for EU migrants have improved."

Nine in 10 businesses say Brexit has affected their ability to recruit and train staff this year, the Guardian newspaper quoted the Confederation of British Industry as saying.

Recruitment & Employment Confederation director of policy Tom Hadley said 75 percent of employers have little or no capacity to take on more work without needing to hire more staff, admitting the shortage is acute across both the private and public sector, particularly in social care and the NHS.

"UK employers need a comprehensive mobility and migration deal with the EU post-Brexit to ensure that private and public sector organizations can continue to secure the permanent, temporary and seasonal workers they need to be successful," Hadley said.

"Severely reducing the number of EU workers coming to the UK will make British firms less competitive and put increasing pressure on our public services," he said.

The UK has envisaged a new skills-based immigration policy post-Brexit after free movement comes to an end between the UK and other EU countries, which means EU citizens will no longer be prioritized.

Despite the lowest EU net migration in six years, non-EU net migration to the UK is now at the highest level since 2004 due to increasing numbers arriving for work and study, said the ONS.