Adina Campbell
UK correspondent

As we've been reporting, the Home Office's latest figures show 36,273 asylum seekers were housed in hotels in September 2025.

This week I’ve been spending time speaking with asylum seekers living in a hotel in Leeds.

One man who didn’t want to reveal his identity for safety reasons says he arrived in the UK by boat four months ago.

The 29-year-old says he was wrongly jailed twice there for political reasons. He’s now been granted asylum in the UK and will soon be moving out of the hotel.

Like many asylum hotels in the UK, the one he was staying at has seen protests over its housing arrangements.

He says: “I understand why people are angry. There are a lot of people coming in. My situation was really bad but the UK was the only place that treated me like a human."

But he says he hopes he can stay here, because the UK is "the only country" accepting him "as a human".

We're continuing to look through the latest migration figures from the Office for National Statistics, and can bring you a bit more detail:

• Total long-term immigration: 898,000, a decrease of 401,000 from the revised figures for the year up to June 2024
• Total long-term emigration: 693,000, which is an increase of 43,000 people from the revised figures for the year up to June 2024
• Immigration to study in the UK for non-EU nationals: 288,000, which is down 25% - this was the most common reason for non-EU arrivals
• Immigration to work in the UK for non-EU nationals: at 171,000 people, this was the next most common reason for arriving in the UK, and was a 61% decrease on the previous year up to June 2024

As a reminder, these are provisional estimates and could be revised at the end of the year.

Image source, EPA/Shutterstock

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood welcomed today's figures, saying net migration is "at its lowest level in half a decade and has fallen by more than two-thirds under this government".

She says the government is going further "because the pace and scale of migration has placed immense pressure on local communities".

“Last week, I announced reforms to our migration system to ensure that those who come here must contribute and put in more than they take out", she adds.

Robert Cuffe
Head of statistics

There were 109,000 fewer Britons in the UK by June 2025 and 70,000 fewer EU citizens. Both groups are net emigrants - with more people leaving than arriving over the course of the year.

By contrast, people from outside the EU are net immigrants, with 383,000 more living in the UK by the end of June compared to a year before.

Helen Catt
Political correspondent

This is good news for the government, given it has said it wants to see migration fall.

The numbers have come down since they have been in power.

However, migration experts have pointed out that much of this reduction is actually because of measures brought in by the Conservatives in 2024.

So you can expect lots of political argument about who is actually responsible for the drop.

It's also likely there'll be attacks from Reform UK on both Labour and the Conservatives' record, as, despite these measures apparently working, the Tories still saw migration hit record levels when they were in office.

There could be other good news for the government in these figures long-term as, when their own migration reforms start to have an impact, it will be on an already-reduced number.

As we've been reporting, the ONS says net migration is two-thirds lower in the year up to June 2025 than it was the previous year (up to June 2024).

The report outlines two main reasons for this.

One is that fewer non-EU nationals are arriving to work or study in the UK.

The ONS says it has seen a decline of approximately 70% in the number of people arriving on work or study-dependant visas.

There is also a "continued, gradual increase" in the number of people leaving the country.

It says that most people who left the country in the year up to June 2025 were non-EU nationals - with this figure at around 286,000. Around half of those leaving had originally arrived on study-related visas.

Both EU and British national groups saw more people leaving the UK than arriving. For EU citizens,70,000 more people left than arrived. For British nationals, it was 109,000.

The Home Office's latest figures show that 36,273 asylum seekers were housed in hotels in September 2025.

This compares to 35,628 in September 2024, 38,054 in December 2024, 32,326 (March 2025), 32,041 (June 2025) and 36,273 in September 2025.

Robert Cuffe
Head of statistics

Net migration has fallen nearly 80% from its peak.

Migration added 204,000 people to the UK’s population between July 2024 and June 2025 according to provisional figures published by the Office for National Statistics.

This is:

• Down nearly 70% on last year’s figure of about 650,000 people
• Down nearly 80% from its peak of nearly a million people (944,000) in the 12 months to March 2023
• The lowest figure since the pandemic (132,000 in the 12 months March 21)

This latest fall in the net migration figure - the difference between people coming to the UK and those leaving - is a result of fewer people coming to the UK.

Just under 900,000 (898,000) people immigrated to the UK between July 2024 and June 2025, down more than 400,000 people the year before that.

Emigration was little changed: At the same time, 693,000 people emigrated from the UK, up by 43,000 on the previous year.

• As a reminder, previous migration figures have been revised substantially and the ONS labels their figures for migration in 2025 as “provisional”

Daniel Sandford
UK correspondent

The top nationalities arriving by small boat are Eritrea (17%), Afghanistan (13%), Iran (11%), Sudan (10%) and Somalia (8%).

Daniel Sandford
UK correspondent

There were 51,000 arrivals detected as coming via illegal routes, such as small boats and other clandestine routes like lorries and vans, in the year ending September 2025.

Of those small boat arrivals accounted for 46,000 (89%).

Daniel Sandford
UK correspondent

More now on the number of asylum claims. The exact figure for the year to September 2025 is 110,051, which exceeds the revised figure for the year to June 2025 109,142.

Which means that based on the revised figures this is a new record.

"Half of asylum seekers arrived through illegal routes, such as small boats or clandestine methods," the Home Office says, adding that a further 38% of people seeking asylum had previously arrived in the UK on a visa or with other leave.

This post has been updated as an earlier version incorrectly rounded the number of asylum claims in the year to September 2025 up to 111,000.

Net migration, the number of people immigrating minus the number of people emigrating is provisionally estimated to be 204,000 in the year ending June 2025, the Office for National Statistics says.

This is a drop from 649,000 in the year to June 2024, the ONS says.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has just published its latest net migration figures, which estimates the number of people moving to the UK on a longer-term basis (immigration) and those leaving the country (emigration) in the year up to June 2025.

The Home Office has also just released its latest immigration data, which looks at the number of people coming to the UK being granted visas, citizenship and seeking asylum.

These statistics cover the 12 months leading up to September 2025.

We're now sifting through the data - which can take some time - stay with us.

Two minutes to go: At 09:30 GMT, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) will release its latest UK net migration figures for the 12 months to June 2025. At the same time, the Home Office will release its quarterly immigration statistics for the year ending September 2025.

What do today’s figures measure? Net migration is the difference between the number of people arriving to live in the UK, and the number of people leaving to live elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Home Office’s immigration statistics will detail the number of people granted visas, citizenship and asylum in the UK.

Quick reminder: The ONS figures are provisional and could be revised further down the line.

Bear with us: It may take us a few minutes to comb through and interpret the figures, but stay with us.

Provisional net migration statistics are published every six months by the Office for National Statistics.

Those figures have seen large revisions, especially in recent years, but the key to understanding these changes is that first word: provisional.

As a report by the Migration Advisory Committee, external explains, they first publish provisional statistics, which are then replaced by final numbers when they become available after 12 months.

Revisions are also made when the ONS changes how it collects data or corrects mistakes made in previous releases.

For instance, in 2022, net migration was initially estimated to be 606,000 before being revised up to 745,000, then 764,000 and finally 872,000. This final number wasn't released until 18 months after the initial estimate was announced, and it was 44% higher.

It's also not always the case that revisions are made upwards. Take last year's estimated figures, which were revised last week to be 20% lower than previously thought.

Senior researcher at the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, Peter Walsh, tells BBC Radio 4's Today programme that, based on visa data and existing trends, we could see "further falls" in net migration within the statistics released at 09:30 GMT.

But while net migration is expected to be lower than 2023 record highs, Walsh says it's thought the figures will be "much more in line" with levels over the last two decades.

"For the most complete and accurate picture, it takes at least a year for policy changes to show up in the statistics," he explains.

"That's the definition of a long-term international migrant (someone who changes their usual country of residence for at least one year)."

It means that most of the changes we're seeing now will be related to measures introduced by the previous government in early 2024 - such as higher salary thresholds for work visas, he says.

Immigration can be influenced more quickly - through changes to visa policy, Walsh adds.

As we've been reporting, the iterations of figures on net migration are provisional - which means they can be revised at a later date.

Last week, the ONS revised figures for 2024 down by 86,000 people - meaning net migration for that year now stands at 345,000.

More British nationals are thought to have emigrated during that period than initially recorded.

The graph below shows how the 2024 figures, first released in May, have since been revised.

In addition to the ONS release, the Home Office this morning will also publish statistics relating to the immigration system for the year ending September 2025.

These will detail asylum, detentions and returns as well as numbers relating to citizenship.

Last week Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood announced sweeping changes to the UK's asylum system, calling the current situation "out of control and unfair".

Under the plans, refugee status will become temporary, guaranteed housing support for asylum seekers will end and new capped "safe and legal routes" into the UK will be created.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the proposals were "positive baby steps" although she argued the government should have gone further and left the European Convention on Human Rights.

Some Labour MPs expressed concerns, with Nadia Whittome calling the plans "dystopian" and "shameful", while the Lib Dems welcomed the introduction of new safe and legal routes - but accused the home secretary of "stoking division by using immoderate language".

There's more on this in our news story from last week.

Net migration is the number of people arriving, minus the number of people leaving, and represents the gain or loss to the UK population. An estimate of these figures is published twice a year by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Where people came from, or leave to, is also in the report.

There are many reasons why people move to the UK. The most common are those travelling on work or study visas.

Humanitarian visas - such as those offered to people from Ukraine and Hong Kong - and people seeking asylum also feature.

Today's statistics will cover the 12 months to June 2025 and as a reminder, they are provisional so could be revised further down the line.

The latest UK net migration figures will be released this morning.

Net migration is the difference between the number of people arriving in the country and the number of people leaving.

Official figures are released by the Office for National Statistics every six months and cover a 12 month period - today's will represent the year ending June 2025. However, the numbers are provisional and may be revised at a later date.

The Home Office will also release its quarterly immigration statistics detailing the number of people granted visas, citizenship and asylum in the UK in the year ending September 2025.

The new statistics will be published at 09:30 GMT - our team on the news desk will begin combing through the document to bring you the key lines and analysis.

Ahead of that, we can bring you some context and details of the most recent figures - stay with us.