[ad_1]
Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free
Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.
Net migration to the UK fell by two-thirds in the year to June to 204,000, the lowest level since the Covid-19 pandemic, after sharp falls in arrivals combined with a slight rise in the number of people leaving the country.
The Office for National Statistics on Thursday said net migration for the period had fallen from 649,000 for the year to June 2024 — more than most analysts had expected. Net migration peaked at 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
There was a net outflow of both EU and UK citizens in the 12 months to June 2025, with a majority of the UK citizens leaving under the age of 35.
Among people from outside the EU, about 383,000 more arrived in Britain than left, although the figure was down sharply on 825,000 in the year to June 2024.
About 70,000 more EU citizens left the UK than arrived in the latest period, while 109,000 more UK citizens left the country than arrived.
About 76 per cent of UK citizens leaving were under the age of 35. The age figures applied to the year to March, but figures for the year to June were expected to show a similar age profile.
The ONS figures for the year to June came as separate Home Office data showed a new record in the level of asylum claims in the 12 months to September.
There were 110,051 asylum claims for the year to September 30, up marginally from the revised figure of 109,142 for the year to June 30.
Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, said that while net migration had returned to pre-Brexit levels, the composition was now different.
“Non-EU net migration is still much larger than it was pre-Brexit, EU much lower, and a higher share of migrants are coming through the asylum system,” she said.
Long-term immigration — arrivals of people planning to stay more than a year — also fell 31 per cent to 898,000 in the year to June 2025, while long-term emigration rose 6.7 per cent to 693,000.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood has in recent weeks set out plans to transform the legal migration system and overhaul asylum policy, as the government seeks to fend off Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which is leading national opinion polls.
Under the changes, high earners and entrepreneurs will be eligible for UK settlement in as little as three years, while others will be forced to wait up to three decades. At the same time, asylum status will be made temporary for many people and the automatic right to housing and financial support will end.
Mahmood welcomed the ONS figures, but added: “We are going further because the pace and scale of migration has placed immense pressure on local communities.”
However, Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp attributed the fall in net migration to changes made under the previous Tory government and pledged further action if his party returned to power.
“Under a future Conservative government, only those who make a real contribution can stay permanently, and only British citizens will be eligible for benefits funded by British taxpayers,” he said.
Data visualisation by Amy Borrett
[ad_2]