Net migration to UK drops by two-thirds year on year

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 show.

- HOLLY BANCROFT HOME AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT

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, Office for National Statistics (ONS) projections for April 2022 to March 2023 show.

Net migration - the difference between the number of people moving long-term to the country and the number of people leaving - 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 yesterday, 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.”