Net migration almost halves after tough visa rules kick in

About 430,000 more people arrived in UK last year than left

- DAVID MADDOX ARCHIE MITCHELL

Net migration to the UK almost halved last year, according to the latest estimates, sparking concerns over a shortage of workers in some key sectors.

About 431,000 more people arrived in the UK than left over the 12-month period to December 2024, compared to 860,000 a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

The fall in net migration has been driven by a decline in non-EU workers and students coming to the UK, and marks the largest fall on record. The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford said the “record-breaking decline” in net migration was possible “primarily because numbers had previously been so high”.

But the crisis in the care sector in particular was highlighted in the figures showing that a mere 26,100 people between April last year and April 2025 came to the UK on a health and care worker visa. This is down from 143,900 on figures for March 2023 to March 2024.

The Tories have claimed credit for the drop under measures they introduced shortly before losing the election, but it comes just a week after Sir Keir Starmer’s controversial speech about reducing migration even further, claiming the UK had become an “island of strangers”.

Despite both Labour and the Conservatives celebrating the figures, the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank warned Sir Keir must balance cutting migration numbers with the need to support Britain’s ailing public services, with particular concern about exacerbating the shortage of workers in health and social care, many of whom come from overseas.

Nadra Ahmed, chair of the National Care Association, warned that the statistics revealed a shortage of workers in the care sector, which is set to be made worse by Sir Keir’s decision to refuse visas to care workers from abroad.