Net migration to the UK has plummeted by nearly half to the lowest point since the Covid pandemic, driven by fewer people coming to Britain for work, new figures show.
The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows that in the 12 months to December 2025, the number of people entering the country minus the number of people who left was estimated at 171,000. This was down 48 per cent year on year, from 331,000 in 2024.
It peaked at 944,000 in 2023, but has fallen sharply since then, largely because fewer people are coming to the UK for work or study, with a 47 per cent drop in workers coming to Britain in 2025. Excluding the era of the Covid pandemic, when international travel fell sharply around the world, the last time net migration to the UK was this low was in 2012.
The sustained fall in numbers in recent years follows measures introduced by the Conservatives, and continued under Labour, to stop care workers and overseas students from bringing family members to the UK, along with the decision to raise the salary requirements for some visas.
Restrictions have also been added to the skilled worker visa, making it harder to gain the right to work in the UK in certain lower-skilled professions.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood welcomed the figures, saying: “Net migration has fallen by 82 per cent in just three years. We will always welcome those who contribute to this country and wish to build a better life here. But we must restore order and control to our borders.”
She added that the figures show that “real progress has been made, but there is still work to do”.
Net migration to the UK reached 193,000 in the year to March 2018, having stood at 157,000 in the year to September 2012. During the Covid pandemic, it crashed to around 35,000.
ONS deputy director Sarah Crofts said: “Net migration continues to fall, and is at levels last seen in early 2021 – when the new immigration system was introduced, and Covid-19 pandemic travel restrictions were still in place. The recent decrease is being driven by fewer people arriving from outside the EU, particularly for work.
“While emigration had been increasing, there are early signs it may now be starting to fall, though it is too soon to say whether this will continue.”
Responding to Thursday’s statistics, shadow home secretary Chris Philp said that “non-EU immigration remains far too high”. He added: “Mass immigration undermines our society and low-wage immigration is bad for the economy.”
He urged Labour to “go further” and pledged that the Tories would “introduce a binding annual immigration cap at a very low level”.
The total foreign-born population in the UK has increased by 2.4 million since the last census, and now makes up 19 per cent of the population, analysis by the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford found.
A record number of people have also applied for UK citizenship, with more than 300,000 applications in the year to March 2026.
Dr Nuni Jorgensen, Researcher at the Migration Observatory, said: “An increase in citizenship grants was always expected, because non-EU migration rose in the late 2010s and these people are now becoming eligible for citizenship.
“However, the increase has been sharper than anticipated, particularly among US and EU citizens. One potential reason is the heavy publicity around government and opposition plans to restrict permanent status and citizenship.”
Further data published by the Home Office on Thursday showed that the number of people claiming asylum fell by 12 per cent in the year to March 2026, to 94,000. The grant rate for asylum claims has fallen from 49 per cent last year to 39 per cent currently.
Asylum seekers are also being moved out of hotels, with around 21,000 asylum seekers now in this type of Home Office accommodation – down 35 per cent from the year before.
