The net number of migrants coming to the UK fell by 20% in the year up to June, official stats show.
It stood at an estimated 728,000, down from a record 906,000 in the year to June 2023. Net migration is the difference between the number of people arriving and leaving the country.
Some 1.2 million people are estimated to have arrived in the UK in the year ending June 2024, while 479,000 are likely to have left. This compares with 1.3 million who arrived in the UK in the year to June 2023 and 414,000 who left.
The Tories have attempted to claim credit for the fall, which has been at least partly driven by the party’s changes to visa rules, including a clampdown on international students bringing family members with them to the UK. But Labour blames the Tories for letting the numbers get out of control.
The Office for National Statistics said long-term international migration to the UK has been at “unprecedented levels” due to factors including the war in Ukraine, the impact of the post-Brexit immigration system and the effects of pent-up demand for study related immigration following the pandemic.
ONS director Mary Gregory said the drop in net migration was due to decreases in the number of people arriving for work-related reasons as well as increases in the number of people leaving the country, most notably those who came to the UK on study-related visas. “This is likely to be a consequence of the higher numbers of students coming to the UK post-pandemic who are now reaching the end of their courses,” she said.
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The latest migration figures cover a period that saw changes in legal migration rules for family, study and work-related visas, which were introduced by the previous Conservative government and which came into effect at various dates from January 2024. The estimates show that non-EU immigration of people arriving as dependants on study visa applications stood at 80,000 in the year to June 2024, down from 115,000 in the previous 12 months. Changes to the student visa route implemented in January of this year restricted the ability of most international students to bring family members.
Home Office minister Seema Malhotra earlier declined to say what level of net migration would be acceptable. Asked repeatedly to provide a number for an acceptable level of net migration, Ms Malhotra declined to do so, saying policy must be based on “a credible and serious plan” and the Government should not “just pull figures out of the air”.
She told BBC Breakfast: “My point is this, we want to see net migration coming down, but we have to do so in a way that is tackling the causes of net migration, because if much of net migration has been driven by recruiting workers from overseas, you also have to look at what the impact on the economy would be.”