NET migration to the UK fell by 69 per cent to 204,000 in the year to June, according to official figures released on Thursday, giving prime minister Keir Starmer a boost.
The fall continues a downward trend as Starmer’s Labour government faces pressure from Reform UK, which has focused on immigration.
The figures do not include migrant arrivals through irregular routes such as small boat crossings.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the drop was driven by fewer non-European Union nationals and their dependants coming to work or study, and more Britons leaving the country.
Provisional net migration data — the difference between people arriving and leaving — showed an estimated 898,000 arrivals in the year to June and 693,000 people permanently leaving. It is the lowest 12-month figure since 2021.
Net migration for 2024, announced in May, also showed a fall to 431,000, later revised to 345,000. That compared with 860,000 in the year to December 2023.
The opposition Conservatives said on Thursday the decline was due to reforms to work visas, dependants and students introduced by former prime minister Rishi Sunak before the 2024 election.
Migration crackdown
The figures do not change the situation on irregular migration, which remains high.
More than 39,000 people have arrived on small boats this year, already more than the total for 2024 but below the 2022 record under the previous Conservative government.
Reform UK, led by Nigel Farage, has held double-digit polling leads over Labour for most of the year while campaigning on immigration.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood this month announced measures targeting both legal and irregular migration, partly in response to support for Reform UK.
The government is also moving forward with a “one in, one out” arrangement with France aimed at reducing small boat arrivals. New figures released Thursday showed 153 people have been removed to France and 134 have arrived in the UK under the plan.
Under the scheme, for each migrant arrival deemed irregular and ineligible for asylum and returned to France, another person is permitted to enter the UK through “a new safe and legal route.”
