Prime Minister Keir Starmer accuses the previous Conservative government of running an "open borders experiment" after new figures showed record net migration
Net migration to the UK was 906,000 in the year up to June 2023 - far higher than previous estimates
About 1.3 million people came to live in the UK in this period, while 414,000 people left
Net migration - the difference between the number of people leaving and arriving - then fell to 728,000 in the 12 months to June 2024
Pressed on what would be an acceptable net migration figure, Starmer declines to put a figure on it - but says he wants it cut "significantly"
Here are five key facts from today's data, and five things you may have missed
Watch: Starmer accuses Tories of running 'open borders experiment'
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has just walked up to the podium to give his speech on migration, following the release of this morning's figures.
Here on the news desk, we're ready to bring you the key lines - or you can follow along yourself by pressing watch live above.
As you may have guessed, it seems like Keir Starmer is slightly delayed for his Downing Street speech and news conference, which we were expecting to begin at 15:00 GMT.
James Landale
Diplomatic correspondent, reporting from Iraq
The UK and Iraq have agreed an unprecedented joint plan to tackle people smuggling gangs responsible for thousands of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats.
On a three-day visit to the country, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper also signed a new agreement to ensure failed Iraqi asylum seekers are returned home more "swiftly".
She met ministers from the federal government in Baghdad and regional leaders in Kurdistan in the north where many smuggling gangs are based.
The agreement will involve greater intelligence sharing and more joint law enforcement operations, all designed to increase the number of smugglers that are prosecuted.
As part of the deal, the UK will give Iraqi law enforcement £300,000 for training in border security, focused on organised immigration crime and drug trafficking.
The authorities in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq will get support worth £200,000 to help tighten their border security and tackle irregular migration.
Image source, Lee Durant/BBC
Image source, PA MediaHome Secretary Yvette Cooper in London in July
As we've just reported, Keir Starmer is due to speak in 10 minutes from Downing Street.
While we wait, Home Secretary Yvette Cooper says the government is "clear" that net migration needs to come down - as a reminder, it was 728,000 in 12 months to June.
"In the space of four years net migration rose by almost five times to a record high," Cooper says, while adding there has been an "over-reliance" on overseas recruitment.
She also says returns for those who do not have a right to be in the UK are at at their "highest level in years" following recent action by the new Labour government.
We've just heard that Keir Starmer is giving a news conference on migration in Downing Street at 15:00 GMT - you'll be able to watch and follow live on this page.
Hazel Shearing
Education correspondent
Image source, Getty ImagesVice-chancellors are already worried about a fall in international student numbers and the impact on their finances.
The 19% fall in visas issued to students between the years ending September 2023 and September 2024 just back up what other datasets have already indicated.
Universities have become increasingly reliant on international students, who pay higher fees than UK students.
Tuition fees for UK students haven’t kept up with inflation, and universities say international fees help address funding shortfalls.
The government announced this month that domestic fees in England will rise from £9,250 to £9,535.
For universities, this will assist with some immediate financial challenges – but it only applies to next year and they want to see long-term plans.
Some universities will be more worried than others – especially those that recruit heavily from Nigeria and India, as there have been steep falls in the number of study visas issued to students from both countries.
Image source, EPAEarlier, we heard from Labour and the Conservatives, and we're now getting reaction from other political parties.
Lisa Smart, home affairs spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats, says the previous Conservative government "made a total mess of our immigration system" and "shattered public trust".
As a reminder, the figures released today are from when the Conservatives were in power, and are far higher than they promised voters.
Reform UK's leader, Nigel Farage, calls the figures "horrendous" and says he is "pretty angry" - adding that he's had "enough of being lied to by the Conservative Party".
Image source, Getty ImagesEarlier, we took you through some of the key figures behind the uptick in people leaving - or emigrating - from the UK.
Let's take a closer look now at those related to the 1.2 million people who came to live in the country - or immigrated - in the year to June 2024.
According to the Office for National Statistics, of that number one million (86%) were non-EU+ nationals, 10% were EU nationals and 5% were British nationals.
Of the non-EU nationals, the top five nationalities coming to the UK were as follows:
It also details some of the main reasons behind non-EU+ nationals coming to the UK:
By Anthony Reuben
Since the last government announced changes to the visa system in December, there has been a big fall in the number of health and social care visas issued.
The changes included stopping care workers bringing their partners or children with them from March.
The latest figures were released earlier this month, and showed that in the year to the end of October there had been a 54% fall in the number of visas issued to health and care workers, external and their dependants compared with the previous year.
In addition to the changes in the visa rules, the Home Office said the numbers of people had been reduced by greater scrutiny and more action being taken against employers of migrant workers in the sector.
The prime minister's official spokesman says the figures published this morning "show that the government inherited a situation from the previous government where they had effectively run Britain as an experiment in open borders".
As a quick reminder - today's ONS figures look at net migration, while the Home Office has shared separate data on asylum claims.
Following these releases, the spokesman tells reporters that the government is taking action in relation to the smalls boats, saying it's not something that can be solved "overnight".
"We are working at pace to dismantle the business model that drives this dangerous trade," he adds.
Asked specifically about the number of migrants housed in hotels, the spokesman says the use of accommodation is "constantly" reviewed.
"As the manifesto set out the government is committed to ending the use of asylum hotels and saving the taxpayer millions of pounds."
Image source, ReutersThe shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, says the net migration figures for the year to June 2024 are "far too high", as he calls for stricter immigration measures.
For context: These figures are for the period during which the Conservatives were still in government. Labour entered government after the general election on 4 July this year.
In a statement, he says: "Today's figures confirm what we've been warning about: immigration remains far too high, and Labour was wrong to suspend further restrictions on family visas.
"Such high numbers place mounting pressure on housing, public services, and damage social cohesion, causing a real impact felt by communities across the UK.
"We need immediate action to enforce stricter controls on the border, get these numbers down, and put the needs of British workers and families front and centre."
Since 09:30 GMT this morning, we've been combing through the latest set of net migration figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Here's a look at the headline figures:
Earlier, two former Tory home secretaries, Suella Braverman and James Cleverly, claimed credit for the fall in net migration in the year to 2024.
Now, Labour says the current government has started the "hard graft" in cleaning up the Tories' "mess".
On the revising up of net migration figures for the year to June 2023 to a record 906,000, a Labour spokesperson calls the previous government an “open borders party who lied time and again to the public”.
As for what steps they’ll be taking on migration, Labour say they have “hired more caseworkers” to tackle the asylum backlog.
They also point out the introduction of a new Border Security Command team, which is focused on reducing small boat crossings from Europe.
By Robert Cuffe, Head of statistics
The Office for National Statistics has revised upwards its migration estimates for the year to June 2023 by 166,000 people - more than 20%.
This means that total net migration last year was 906,000 – far higher than the previous estimates.
It says this revision is a result of improvements to their estimation process, and that we should expect some continuing uncertainty in estimates as it continues to update its methods.
The June 2023 revisions are split 50/50 between immigration and emigration: about 80,000 more immigrants and 80,000 fewer emigrants.
On immigration, the ONS captures about 40,000 more Ukraine visa entrants in its latest estimates. It also changes how it works out whether a new entrant is intending to stay for a year.
Staying for a year is a key part of the definition of a long-term migrant, but you can't know if for sure when someone arrives in the country.
Previous estimates were based on whether you arrived on, say, a study or a work visa. It's now based on that as well as your age, so the estimates are more accurate and, in this instance, higher.
On the emigration side, the ONS has more data on people who arrived in, say, Spring 2023. Before a year had elapsed, categorising these people as a short or a long-term migrant was based on the kind of assumptions described above.
But now, in Autumn 2024, we know for sure whether they stayed or left and so can classify them more accurately.
Added to that, the ONS has done some work on tying together visas - it used to think that people whose visa elapsed had left the country.
But now they are correctly classifying more of the people who switch from short to long-term visas as staying. Which pushes down the emigration figure.
Hazel Shearing
Education correspondent
In recent years, most people moving to the UK from outside of the EU have come to study, according to the Office for National Statistics data.
But the new estimates suggest work is now the main motivation, with education slipping into second place.
Universities, which have become increasingly reliant on the higher fees paid by international students, have warned about falling admissions.
According to data released by the Home Office today, 392,969 visas were issued to international students between October 2023 and September 2024.
That's 19% less than the previous year, although it's still nearly 50% higher than before the pandemic.
The drop comes after rules introduced in January stopped most international students bringing family members with them.
The number of visas granted to dependents fell to 46,961. That's a 69% drop compared with the year before - although it is almost three times higher than in 2019.
There has been a 62% fall in the number of visas issued to Nigerian students, as the country grapples with a currency crisis.
The fall in net migration in the year to June 2024 has been driven in part by a rise in people leaving the UK, most notably those who came on study-related visas, the Office for National Statistics says.
It estimates that 1.2 million people came to live in the UK in this period, down from its revised estimate of 1.3 million in the year ending June 2023.
Its provisional estimate of long-term emigration is 479,000, higher than its updated estimate of 414,000 in the last year.
Of the 479,000 people who left the UK this year:
It adds that 60% of the non-EU+ nationals who left the UK in the year to June 2024 had arrived for study-related reasons, and were completing their courses and leaving.
Image source, Getty ImagesSpain has traditionally been a popular choice for UK nationals leaving the country
While we've been looking at net migration statistics from the Office for National Statistics, the Home Office has also published immigration statistics for the year ending September 2024.
These figures cover a slightly different timeframe to the ONS, and have a different scope.
Home Office figures show that 99,790 people claimed asylum for this 12-month period ending in September (just over 77,066 cases - sometimes a group of people can be classed as one case).
Since the year ending September 2021, the number of those claiming asylum has "more than doubled", the Home Office says today.
More than 133,400 people were waiting for an initial decision on their asylum case as of the end of September.
Meanwhile, 89,250 grants of leave were offered "via safe and legal (humanitarian) routes to come into, or remain in, the UK".
That's a figure that is 19% lower than the previous year - a drop the Home Office attributes primarily to a reduction in visas and extensions granted on the Ukraine schemes.
Image source, PA MediaTwo former home secretaries from the previous Conservative government are claiming credit for the fall in net migration in the year to June 2024.
Suella Braverman - who held the role twice - says a "20% drop in immigration since June 2023 is a result of the changes I fought for and introduced in May 2023 as home secretary".
That was "when we started to turn the tide" on migration, she says, adding that the estimated 1.2m people who came to the UK during the year to June 2024 is "still too high" and that "we need radical change".
James Cleverly says today's figures are the "first to show the impact of changes" he brought in when he was in post- changes that he says the Labour Party "opposed and haven't fully implemented".