Net migration to the UK has fallen to its lowest level since the Covid-19 pandemic and is now 82% below its record peak in 2023.
Here the Press Association looks at the key numbers and trends in the new data, which has been published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
– What is the latest estimate of net migration?
Net migration to the UK stood at an estimated 171,000 in the year to December 2025.
This is down nearly a half (48%) from 331,000 in the year to December 2024 and is the lowest figure for any 12-month period since the year to March 2021, when it stood at 132,000.
It is also down 82% from the record high of 944,000 in the year to March 2023.
Net migration is the difference between the number of people moving long-term to the UK and the number of people leaving the country.
An estimated 813,000 people immigrated to the UK in the year to December 2025 while 642,000 emigrated, producing a net migration figure of 171,000.
– Why is net migration falling so sharply?
The steep drop in the latest figures is part of a downwards trend that has been under way since 2023.
A number of factors are behind the fall.
The main driver is an ongoing decline in the number of people from outside the European Union who are coming to the UK for work-related reasons.
This figure stood at 471,000 in 2023, before dropping to 272,000 in 2024 and 146,000 in 2025.
The decline is likely due to policy changes introduced by the previous Conservative government and continued by the current Labour administration, which have tightened the rules for coming to the UK to work.
From March 2024, care workers could no longer bring family members with them to the country, while from April 2024 the salary threshold was increased for people wishing to come to the UK on a skilled worker visa, along with the income threshold for a family visa.
In July 2025, the Labour Government introduced further changes, including ending overseas recruitment for care workers and raising the salary threshold again for skilled worker visas.
Another factor behind the fall in net migration is that fewer people are arriving in the UK through the Government’s humanitarian resettlement schemes for British nationals in Hong Kong and individuals fleeing the war in Ukraine.
These schemes were launched in 2021 and 2022 respectively and saw a spike in applications, followed by a steady decrease in numbers.
A third factor is an increase in recent years in people moving out of the UK, though there are signs this trend may be coming to an end.
Emigration from the UK stood at 642,000 in 2025, down slightly from 680,000 in 2024 but higher than 593,000 in 2023 and 508,000 in 2022.
Sarah Crofts, ONS deputy director of migration statistics, said: “While emigration had been increasing since 2022, there are early signs it may now be starting to fall, though it is too soon to say whether this will continue.
“The fall in the past 12 months is mainly due to a decrease in EU nationals leaving, while the rate of non-EU emigration has slowed.”
– Are more British people leaving the country than before?
No.
The number of British nationals emigrating from the UK stood at an estimated 246,000 in 2025, down slightly from 257,000 in 2024 and 255,000 in 2023.
The figures have been “broadly stable” over recent years, the ONS said.
There has also been a drop in the number of British people moving long-term into the UK, from 140,000 in 2024 to 110,000 in 2025.
The method used by the ONS to calculate migration of British nationals was overhauled in 2025 to improve the accuracy of the figures.
Previous methods had underestimated the number moving into and out of the country.
The new method gives a clearer picture of the level of movement, but has only been applied to estimates dating back to June 2021.
– How do the new migration figures compare with historical trends?
The latest net migration estimate of 171,000 for the year to December is the lowest for any 12-month period since the year ending March 2021, when it stood at 132,000.
At that point in 2021, migration was beginning to rise after a very steep fall to just 35,000 in the year to September 2020, which reflected the impact of restrictions on movement and travel during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Excluding the pandemic-affected years of 2020 and 2021, net migration in 2025 was the lowest for any 12-month period since the year to September 2012, when it stood at 157,000.
– Is migration expected to fall further in the future?
The changes to migration rules introduced in 2024 and 2025 are likely to continue having an impact on people moving to the UK in 2026.
Home Office data shows the number of main applicants for skilled work visas in the first four months of this year stood at 7,800, down from 14,400 in the equivalent period in 2025 and 29,200 in 2024.
Main applicants for health and care worker visas stood at 2,000 in January-April 2026, down from 7,000 in the same period in 2025 and 12,400 in 2024.
This should mean the overall level of net migration will fall again when the ONS publishes its next estimate in November 2026, which will cover the year to June 2026.
Dr Ben Brindle, of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said: “Net migration may well have further to fall, because visa grants have continued to decline since 2025.
“All of this said, the downward trend is likely to be temporary. That’s because lower immigration will eventually feed through into lower emigration.
“Today’s data illustrate a challenge the Government faces, namely that the categories of migration it would most like to reduce are the ones least amenable to policy.
“As a result, migration of groups that make positive or broadly neutral economic impacts – such as skilled workers and partners of students – is down, while asylum-related migration remains high.
“Since refugees have lower employment rates and often need a lot of support from the state, this means that the composition of recent migration has probably become less favourable from an economic perspective.”
