UK net migration falls 20 per cent from record high to 728,000, latest ONS figures show

28 November 2024, 09:37 | Updated: 28 November 2024, 16:02

Net migration has fallen by 20%.
Net migration has fallen by 20%. Picture: Alamy

By Henry Moore

Net migration has fallen by 20%, new figures show.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

Net migration to the UK stood at an estimated 728,000 in the year to June 2024.

This is down 20% from a record 906,000 in the year to June 2023, the Office for National Statistics said.

Net migration, which measures the difference between the number of people arriving in the UK and the number leaving, hit record highs in the year to June 2023, it has been revealed.

It comes after the ONS revised its figures for the year to June 2023, raising the figure by 166,000.

The ONS has said that while migration remains high by "historic standards", it is beginning to fall.

Minister challenged on closing of asylum seekers hotels

The drop is "driven by declining numbers of dependants on study visas coming from outside the EU," ONS director Mary Gregory said.

"This has been driven by a variety of factors, including the war in Ukraine and the effects of the post-Brexit immigration system," he said.

"Pent-up demand for study-related immigration because of travel restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic also had an impact.

"While remaining high by historic standards, net migration is now beginning to fall and is provisionally down 20% in the 12 months to June 2024.

"Over that period we have seen a fall in immigration, driven by declining numbers of dependants on study visas coming from outside the EU.

"Over the first six months of 2024, we are also seeing decreases in the number of people arriving for work-related reasons. This is partly related to policy changes earlier this year and is consistent with visa data published by Home Office.

"We are also starting to see increases in emigration, most notably for those who came to the UK on study-related visas. This is likely to be a consequence of the higher numbers of students coming to the UK post-pandemic who are now reaching the end of their courses."

Nick Ferrari questions Chris Philp on Tory migration failures

The estimates show that non-EU immigration of people arriving as dependants on study visa applications stood at 80,000 over the last year, down from 115,000 in the year before June 2023.

While net migration figures fell, Government spending on asylum came in at £5.38 billion in 2023/24, up 36% from £3.95 billion in 2022/23, Home Office figures show.

It comes after Migration Minister Seema Malhotra repeatedly declined to say when asylum hotels would close across the UK.

Repeatedly challenged to name a date by LBC's Nick Ferrari, the minister for migration and citizenship said only that the hotels would close "as we return those who have no right to be here".

Acknowledging that the Labour Government had closed seven hotels but opened 14, she said: "We absolutely want to see hotels closed and what we know, what your listeners will also know, is we do have to house destitute asylum seekers.

"But this has been an overall fall since 400 hotels were being used at the peak."

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

This illustrative image shows Russian President Vladimir Putin (left) and United States President Donald Trump (right).

Donald Trump is 'setting preconditions for withdrawing from NATO', his former advisor tells LBC

Semina Halliwell

Girl, 12, who died of overdose after reporting being raped was 'betrayed' by authorities, mother claims

Farishta Jami, 36, pictured, pledged allegiance to Islamic State and had a 'clear interest in the use of children in warfare'

British mother, 36, who tried to move family to Afghanistan to become ISIS martyrs found guilty of terror offences

Jaysley Beck, 19, was found dead at Larkhill Camp in Wiltshire

Soldier, 19, 'pinned down' by sergeant 'lost faith' after his only punishment was writing apology letter

Michael Steele, who was jailed for life in 1998 for the killings of Tony Tucker, Pat Tate and Craig Rolfe, can be released from prison, the Parole Board has said.

'Essex Boys' killer Michael Steele to be released from prison 27 years after triple gangland murders

Ukraine 'won't accept any agreements' between Trump and Putin to end war without being involved, says Zelenskyy

Ukraine 'won't accept any agreements' between Trump and Putin to end war without being involved, says Zelenskyy

Naya Rivera

Glee star Naya Rivera's heartbreaking final words to her son before she drowned revealed

Kanye West

There can be no debate about Kanye West - he clearly hates Jewish people and should be challenged on it

The young man was swallowed by a whale

Shocking moment whale swallows kayaker whole before spitting him back out

Deise Moura has been arrested on suspicion of killing her relatives with a poisonous Christmas cake

Woman accused of murder after 'Christmas cake poisoning' that killed three is found dead in prison cell

Ex-Met and West Mercia Police constable Mark Cranfield was found guilty of misconduct charges for pestering a revenge porn victim and keeping intimate video and naked images of her on his work phone

'I'm glad I got to see the pictures': Ex constable 'pestered' revenge porn victim and kept naked images of her on his phone

What if Ukraine were the UK? Could you accept surrendering a fifth of our country to Putin after so much sacrifice?

What if Ukraine were the UK? Could you accept surrendering a fifth of our country to Putin after so much sacrifice?

Tranyelle Harshman, 32, of Wyoming, left her fourth daughter fighting for her life after going on a rampage at their home on Monday.

'She loved those kids': Husband breaks silence to defend mother who killed her children

Brothers Mohammed Fahir Amaaz and Muhammad Amaad arriving at Liverpool Crown Court

Brothers deny assaulting police officers in viral video at Manchester Airport

The bodies of Andrew Searle and his wife Dawn were discovered by a neighbour

Mystery deepens over British couple found dead in France as wife 'made appointments' before deaths

Freezing rain will hit the UK.

Rare freezing rain that poses risks for planes and downs trees will hit UK in days, warns Met Office