Net migration to the UK has fallen by more than two-thirds to 204,000 in the year to June 2025, the lowest annual figure since 2021, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). This represents a 69% drop from 649,000 in the previous year.
The decline follows a peak of 944,000 in the year to March 2023, driven by a surge of foreign workers under Boris Johnson's government after the Covid pandemic. In the latest period, just under 900,000 people immigrated, down over 400,000 on the year before, while 693,000 emigrated, up 43,000.
The fall is largely due to a reduction in non-EU nationals arriving. Meanwhile, more EU and British nationals are leaving than arriving, with an estimated 70,000 EU nationals and 109,000 British nationals departing in the year to June 2025.
Madeleine Sumption of the Migration Observatory at Oxford University cautioned that the trend may not persist, noting that negative net migration of EU citizens who arrived before Brexit is a temporary factor.
Separate Home Office data show the number of asylum seekers in hotels rose 13% to 36,273 by the end of September 2025. Illegal arrivals totalled 51,000 in the year to September, with 46,000 (89%) arriving by small boat. The top nationalities were Eritrean, Afghan, Iranian, Sudanese and Somalian.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the fall reflects government reforms, while shadow home secretary Chris Philp attributed it to Conservative policies but called for further action.
