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It is down 69% year on year and the lowest annual figure since 2021
Holly BancroftHome Affairs CorrespondentThursday 27 November 2025 10:13 GMTComments
The number of international workers coming to the UK is falling, net migration figures show (PA)
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Net migration to the UK has fallen by 445,000 in the year to June driven by fewer people arriving for work or study, new figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.
In the 12 months to June, net migration was an estimated 204,000 - down 69 per cent year on year and the lowest annual figure since 2021.
The number of people arriving in the country compared to those leaving has been falling since the peak in 2023. At the height of net migration, 944,000 people were added to the UK population, ONS projections for April 2022 to March 2023 show.
Net migration to the UK in recent years peaked at a higher level than initially estimated and has since fallen more sharply, newly revised figures released last week revealed.
Statistics showing the change in the year up to June 2025, released on Thursday morning, show that 204,000 people were added to the UK population. This is around two-thirds lower than a year earlier, with 649,000 people added in the year up to June 2024.
The fall in non-EU nationals coming to the UK has been driving the sudden fall in net migration. While non-EU nationals are still adding to the UK population, more EU and British nationals have been leaving the UK than arriving.
Around 70,000 EU nationals are predicted to have left the UK in the year up to June, continuing a downward trend since the Brexit referendum. Some 109,000 British nationals are also thought to have left the UK in this time, projections from the ONS found.
Mary Gregory, ONS executive director for population and census, said: “Net migration is at the lowest level seen since 2021, when pandemic lockdown restrictions were lifted and the new immigration system was introduced following the UK’s EU exit.”
She pointed to fewer people from outside the EU arriving for work and study driving the fall, as well as a decline in the number of dependants and a gradual increase in the number of Brits leaving the UK.
She said that Indian and Chinese nationals, who originally arrived on study visas, were leaving the UK and 90 per cent of the British people emigrating were of working age.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: “Net migration is at its lowest level in half a decade and has fallen by more than two-thirds under this government.
"But we are going further because the pace and scale of migration has placed immense pressure on local communities. Last week, I announced reforms to our migration system to ensure that those who come here must contribute and put in more than they take out.”
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