UK net migration falls 20 per cent from record high to 728,000, latest ONS figures show
28 November 2024, 09:37 | Updated: 28 November 2024, 16:02
Net migration has fallen by 20%, new figures show.
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Net migration to the UK stood at an estimated 728,000 in the year to June 2024.
This is down 20% from a record 906,000 in the year to June 2023, the Office for National Statistics said.
Net migration, which measures the difference between the number of people arriving in the UK and the number leaving, hit record highs in the year to June 2023, it has been revealed.
It comes after the ONS revised its figures for the year to June 2023, raising the figure by 166,000.
The ONS has said that while migration remains high by "historic standards", it is beginning to fall.
Minister challenged on closing of asylum seekers hotels
The drop is "driven by declining numbers of dependants on study visas coming from outside the EU," ONS director Mary Gregory said.
"This has been driven by a variety of factors, including the war in Ukraine and the effects of the post-Brexit immigration system," he said.
"Pent-up demand for study-related immigration because of travel restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic also had an impact.
"While remaining high by historic standards, net migration is now beginning to fall and is provisionally down 20% in the 12 months to June 2024.
"Over that period we have seen a fall in immigration, driven by declining numbers of dependants on study visas coming from outside the EU.
"Over the first six months of 2024, we are also seeing decreases in the number of people arriving for work-related reasons. This is partly related to policy changes earlier this year and is consistent with visa data published by Home Office.
"We are also starting to see increases in emigration, most notably for 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."
Nick Ferrari questions Chris Philp on Tory migration failures
The estimates show that non-EU immigration of people arriving as dependants on study visa applications stood at 80,000 over the last year, down from 115,000 in the year before June 2023.
While net migration figures fell, Government spending on asylum came in at £5.38 billion in 2023/24, up 36% from £3.95 billion in 2022/23, Home Office figures show.
It comes after Migration Minister Seema Malhotra repeatedly declined to say when asylum hotels would close across the UK.
Repeatedly challenged to name a date by LBC's Nick Ferrari, the minister for migration and citizenship said only that the hotels would close "as we return those who have no right to be here".
Acknowledging that the Labour Government had closed seven hotels but opened 14, she said: "We absolutely want to see hotels closed and what we know, what your listeners will also know, is we do have to house destitute asylum seekers.
"But this has been an overall fall since 400 hotels were being used at the peak."
