Alongside the headline figures from the Office for National Statistics, the Home Office has released separate data, including on "irregular arrivals" to the UK:

• 44,000 irregular arrivals were detected in the year ending March 2025 - 14% up on the previous year
• Of those, 38,000 (86%) came on small boats
• That's 22% more small boat arrivals than the previous year - but 17% fewer than 2022
• Afghans were the most common nationality to arrive on small boat, accounting for 16% of arrivals

In total, 109,000 people claimed asylum in the UK in the year ending March 2025.

In 2024, just under a third of asylum seekers had arrived via small boat, and slightly more than a third had arrived on a visa, the Home Office says.

Image source, PA Media

We can now bring you a separate set of statistics from the Home Office, which have also been published today.

These figures apply to a different period to those from the ONS - covering the year ending March 2025.

• During this period, 109,343 people claimed asylum in the UK - an increase of 17% on the year ending March 2024
• During the same period, there were 44,000 irregular arrivals. This figure is up by 14% on the previous year
• One third of those claiming asylum in the UK arrived on small boats
• 49% of claims that received an initial decision during the year were granted asylum

Image source, PA Media

We're just hearing the first government response to this morning's ONS release.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper says the 300,000 drop in net migration "since the election" is "important and welcome".

• For context: Today's figures cover the12 months to December 2024. Labour took office in June that year, so these numbers also apply to a period during which the Conservatives were in power

Cooper adds that the government's immigration White Paper sets out "radical reforms to further reduce net migration".

The home secretary then references statistics from the Home Office - more on those shortly - which she says show "a big increase" in returns of failed asylum seekers.

Image source, PA Media

We're still waiting to hear from Labour on this morning's figures, but shadow home secretary Chris Philp says today's drop is "thanks to" measures introduced by the previous Conservative government.

Posting on X, he adds that the number is "far too high" and calls for a "binding annual immigration cap".

He says this cap would be set at lower levels by Parliament, and criticises Labour for voting against this idea.

Image source, PA Media

Leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, calls the latest net migration figures "disastrous".

Writing on X, Farage says: "Net migration of over 400,000 for Labour’s first year of government.

"Not as high as the great Tory betrayal, but still disastrous."

• As a reminder, these figures cover the 12 months to December 2024, so encompass a time period during which both Labour and the Conservatives held power

Robert Cuffe
Head of statistics

The main reason behind the massive fall in net migration is that fewer workers and students are bringing their family members with them.

Fewer people came to work in 2023 from outside the EU - that figure was down by just over 100,000 people.

They brought fewer family members with them, by about 80,000 people.

And although the number of students didn’t change as much - down 50,000 -, far fewer family members came with them too, another 100,000 people.

Those changes account for most of the fall reported today.

The then Conservative government made changes to the rules for migrants in late 2023, banning care workers and most students from bringing family members with them. They will likely claim credit for today’s figures.

Emigration is up slightly. Asylum/other reasons for coming to the country are broadly stable.

Image source, Reuters

"The numbers are still too high," says Tory leader Kemi Badenoch in response to this morning's net migration figures, as she calls for an annual cap to be introduced.

Posting on X, Badenoch says Labour have "SCRAPPED the tough measures" the Conservatives introduced to get the numbers down.

"Starmer STILL keeps voting against every plan to bring them down further," she adds.

We're still waiting to hear reaction from the government, but will update you when we do.

Today's figures show 517,000 people emigrated from the UK in 2024 (net migration is the difference in the number of people arriving and leaving).

Of those 517,000:

• 43% were from outside the EU (222,000)
• 42% were from the EU plus Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland (218,000)
• 15% were British nationals (77,000)

The most common nationalities to emigrate were:

• Indian (18,000 who initially came to the UK for work reasons; 37,000 who initially came for study reasons; 3,000 who initially came for other reasons)
• Chinese (2,000 work reasons; 42,000 study reasons; 1,000 other)
• Nigerian (2,000 work reasons; 12,000 study reasons; 2,000 other)
• Pakistani (1,000 work reasons; 6,000 study reasons; 5,000 other)
• US (3,000 work reasons; 4,000 study reasons; 1,000 other)

We looked at where the UK's immigrants came from in our 10:46 BST post.

Dominic Casciani
Home and Legal Correspondent

Oxford University’s respected Migration Observatory, which carries out independent and impartial analysis, says that today’s figures shows the net migration rollercoaster has hit the downslope.

And while the 431,000 figure is well above the pre-Brexit peak of roughly 300,000, it still has further to fall as policy levers are pulled.

"This record-breaking decline in net migration was possible primarily because numbers had previously been so high," says Dr Madeleine Sumption, the head of the unit.

"UK migration patterns in 2023 were very unusual, with unexpectedly large numbers of visas for care workers, international students, and their family members. This made it easier for the government at that time to bring down the numbers."

So will the falls damage the economy?

Sumption says the impact is likely to be relatively small.

"The groups that have driven the decline, such as study and work dependants, are neither the highest skilled, highest-paid migrants who make substantial contributions to tax revenues, nor the most disadvantaged groups that require substantial support."

Image source, Getty Images

We're yet to hear from Labour on today's net migration figures.

Meanwhile, former home secretary James Cleverly has just become the second member of the previous government to claim credit for the number almost halving in the year to December 2024.

While in the role, Cleverly oversaw a rule change that banned international students and health and social care workers from bringing family to the UK.

He also amended visa salary requirements in an attempt to cut immigration.

"Labour will try to claim credit for these figures but they criticised me at the time, and have failed to fully implement the changes," Cleverly writes on X.

The ONS says 948,000 moved to the UK in the year to December 2024 (remember - net migration is the difference in the number of people arriving and leaving).

Of the 948,000:

• 81% were from outside the EU (766,000)
• 13% were from the EU, plus Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland (122,000)
• 6% were British nationals (60,000)

The most common nationalities to arrive were:

• Indian (68,000 work-related; 82,000 study-related; 7,000 other)
• Pakistani (31,000 work-related; 30,000 study-related; 15,000 other)
• Chinese (5,000 work-related; 53,000 study-related; 12,000 other)
• Nigerian (27,000 work-related; 22,000 study related; 3,000 other)
• Ukrainian (22,000 other)

As we've said, today's headline figure shows net migration to the UK in the 12 months to December 2024 was 431,000.

The ONS has also revised previous estimates - here's the three most recent figures:

12 months to June 2024: 739,000, up from the previously published estimate of 728,000.

12 months to March 2024: 825,000, up slightly from the previously published estimate of 824,000.

12 months to December 2023: 860,000 down from the previously published estimate of 866,000.

Dramatic changes shows effect of political leverspublished at 10:30 British Summer Time

10:30 BST

Dominic Casciani
Home and Legal Correspondent

A big reason for the huge jump in net migration before 2023 was Boris Johnson’s decision to liberalise visas after Brexit.

The pandemic also delayed lots of people’s lives and led to dramatic spike. Immigration for work has now halved, with 108,000 fewer people having got a visa and used it.

But another big component in the fall is the drop off in people bringing family, after it became harder from 2023 to do so. In the year to December 2024, workers brought with them 81,000 fewer dependants.

There was an even bigger drop in the number of students bringing dependants. Their numbers are down 105,000 on the previous year.

These dramatic swings are the results of political choices post Brexit. The former Conservative government pulled levers which first made it easier to come to the UK - and then pulled them back again to make it harder.

Tory MP Robert Jenrick has taken credit for net migration almost halving in the year to December 2024, citing "changes" he made while serving as minister for immigration under the previous government.

"But it's still far too high," he adds in a post on X.

"The last government weren’t willing to go further so I resigned. For all his talk, Starmer’s White Paper was a white flag.

"We must end mass migration for good."

• We broke down the key elements of the government's White Paper here

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent

The number of asylum seekers being housed in hotels has fallen, but is still higher than when Labour came to power last year.

Home Office statistics show there were 32,345 asylum seekers living in taxpayer-funded hotels in March 2025, down from 38,079 in December 2024.

That figure is far lower than the record of 58,636 under the last Conservative government in June 2023.

However, it represents a 9% increase since Labour came to power – the number of asylum seekers in hotels was 29,585 in June 2024.

As we continue to pick through the figures, here's a glossary of some of the key terms we're using this morning:

• Immigration: people arriving into a country
• Emigration: people leaving a country
• Net migration: the difference between the number of people entering and leaving, in other words the overall change to the population numbers as a result of migration
• Long term migration: people entering or leaving the UK for a period of at least 12 months

Visas and the pandemic: Key reasons behind the fallpublished at 09:56 British Summer Time

09:56 BST

Dominic Casciani
Home and Legal Correspondent

It’s clear from the figures that the big falls in net migration are down to both restrictions on visas introduced by the outgoing Conservative administration and a delayed effect of the pandemic.

The near halving of the numbers includes a big increase in the number of people emigrating from the UK to another country.

There have been big falls in the number of people coming to work and study - and there’s been a fall in the number of students bringing family members with them.

That was a key objective of changes that tightened visas, introduced by both Suella Braverman and James Cleverly, the last Tory home secretaries - here’s our summary from the time.

Crucially - and I know this now feels a long time ago - the ending of global travel restrictions caused by the pandemic has meant that people who delayed their intentions to move away have finally gone through with their plans.

That group includes people who came to the UK to study - and have now gone again.

It's important to note that the statistics we've been reporting on this morning - shared by the Office for National Statistics - relate to long-term immigration and emigration.

The ONS defines "long-term" as people changing their usual place of residence for a period of at least 12 months.

Jack Fenwick
Political correspondent

This significant drop in net migration is a rare bit of good news for both Labour and the Conservatives.

Labour pledged to bring down levels of immigration during last year’s general election campaign.

They will inevitably point to these statistics as evidence that they are delivering on that pledge.

But many of the mechanisms that have led to this drop were introduced by the last Conservative government – and they will claim credit for today’s announcement too.

When Rishi Sunak was prime minister and James Cleverly was home secretary, they increased salary thresholds for people wanting to work in the UK – and they made it more difficult for people to bring dependants with them.

The result of those measures are evident in today’s statistics.

There’s been an 86% reduction in the number of study dependants and a 35% reduction in the number of work dependants.

We know that this Labour government wants to bring down net migration by ending care worker visas, increasing English language requirements and raising the threshold at which someone can come to the UK on a skilled work visa.

I expect we’ll be getting comments from both parties very soon claiming victory for their own respective plans.

We can bring you some more detail now from the ONS, after its latest release put net migration to the UK in the year to December at 431,000.

• Total long-term immigration: 948,000 came to the UK, down almost a third on the previous year
• Total long-term emigration: 517,000 left the UK, an increase of 11% on the previous year
• Immigration for work for non-EU nationals: a 49% drop compared to the previous year
• Immigration for study: 17% fewer applications across the 12-month period

As we've been reporting, the ONS releases provisional figures which may be revised. This publication also revises statistics from previous releases - we'll have more on that shortly.