Net migration in sharpest fall since early days of Covid

Fewer people coming to Britain for work and study, data shows

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The difference between the number of people moving to the UK and leaving the country is estimated to have halved, in the biggest fall in net migration since the pandemic.

The figure stood at an estimated 431,000 in the year ending December 2024, down 49.9 per cent from 860,000 a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said.

This is the biggest calendar-year drop since the early stages of the pandemic when net migration fell from 184,000 in the year ending December 2019 to 93,000 in the year ending December 2020.

The latest decrease is the largest numerical drop for any 12-month period and the ONS said the decline has been driven by falling numbers of people coming to work and study in the UK. Long-term immigration fell below one million for the first time in around three years.