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.

Director of population statistics at the ONS Mary Gregory says: "Our provisional estimates show net migration has almost halved compared with the previous year, driven by falling numbers of people coming to work and study, particularly student dependants.

"This follows policy changes brought in restricting visa applications.

"There has also been an increase in emigration over the 12 months to December 2024, especially people leaving who originally came on study visas once pandemic travel restrictions to the UK were eased."

Long-term net migration is down by almost 50%, the Office for National Statistics says.

The number of people immigrating minus the number of people emigrating is provisionally estimated to be 431,000 in the year ending December 2024, compared with 860,000 in the year ending December 2023.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has just published its latest net migration figures - more on what that means.

As a reminder, these statistics cover the 12 months to December 2024. Previous years' totals have also being revised.

We're just starting to sift through the data - which can take some time. Stay with us.

Emily Atkinson
Live editor

Two minutes to go: At 09:30 BST, the Office for National Statistics will publish its latest UK net migration figure for the 12 months to December 2024. (At the same time, we'll get separate Home Office data on immigration).

Quick reminder: The ONS figure will show the difference in the number of people arriving in the country and leaving it.

Bear with us: It may take us a few minutes to comb through and interpret the figures - so don't expect a net migration number at 09:30 exactly.

What's the ideal number?: We're expecting a fall. Labour's been careful not to give a figure - its manifesto pledge was to reduce net migration.

Just before we get number crunching, a quick reminder.

In its last release, the ONS estimated the net migration figure in the 12 months to June 2024 was 728,000.

This figure was provisional and the ONS says this morning it will be revised.

This is in addition to new figures for the year ending December 2024 being published.

Both Labour and Tories will try to take credit for expected fall in net migrationpublished at 09:08 British Summer Time

09:08 BST

Mark Easton
Home editor

The Home Office believes today’s statistics will show key indicators heading in the right direction.

Net migration, visas issued, the asylum backlog and the number of migrants accommodated in hotels are all expected to show welcome falls.

But we know that the number of people arriving in small boats is at a record level, prompting questions about whether the immigration strategy includes enough of a deterrent.

The government will argue that the figures show they are regaining control of Britain’s borders and bringing order to the asylum system.

The Conservatives will suggest the fall in net migration is a consequence of visa restrictions they introduced and point to the small boat figures as evidence that the immigration policy is not tough enough.

Away from the party politics, the debate about the economic and social impact of restricting foreign worker visas continues.

Today’s numbers will not reflect recent announcements limiting health and social care visas or measures to reduce the number of foreign students who stay in the UK after graduating.

Twice a year, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes estimates on the number of people moving to the UK on:

• A longer-term basis (immigration)
• And those leaving (emigration)

Net migration is the number of people arriving, minus the number of people leaving, and represents the gain or loss to the UK population.

There are many reasons why people move to the UK, but the largest groups 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.

Where people are arriving from, or leaving to, is also presented in the figures.

As a reminder: today's statistics will cover the year ending in December 2024. They are also provisional so could be revised further down the line.

Katie Thompson
Reporting from Coventry

Sara Hennessy was born and raised in Australia by British and Danish parents. She moved to the UK when she was 21 and has lived in Coventry ever since.

Speaking ahead of the publication of the stats, she says: “I feel like England is known for being the hand-out society which is a bad thing. All the good parts of Britain are taking a hammering.

"The NHS, everything is just under strain or broken already - there’s just too many people.”

Sara, who runs a fancy dress store in a hub of multiculturalism in the city, says she would support stricter controls despite being a migrant herself.

“There has to be a happy medium. We need to help the people that need to be helped but there needs to be certain rules and regulations on that.”

Dan Johnson
West of England correspondent

We’ve been talking to people in Coventry for their views on immigration for the past couple of days.

Daniel Pastusiak is from Poland and has lived in the UK for 20 years. He thinks that migration should be controlled, but doesn’t agree that it should be cut for the sake of getting the figures down.

He worries that if it is cut the “NHS will stop working”.

“People who take care of older people, this will collapse and there’s going to be a massive problem," he says.

“Migration is always good. It gives blood in the system.

“I think you can see all the migrants working hard - you can see the spark in their eyes.”

I asked Daniel if he felt at home here. He says Coventry is a place "where you can find any religion in the world - it’s a mixture”.

Is the government meeting its pledges on illegal immigration and asylum?published at 07:44 British Summer Time

07:44 BST

By Rob England and Tom Edgington

The prime minister has made tackling illegal immigration and "restoring order" to the asylum system a priority for the government.

Sir Keir Starmer has promised to "smash the gangs". It follows predecessor Rishi Sunak's pledge to "stop the boats".

Yet small boat crossings have reached record levels for this point in the year.

Labour promised to "end asylum hotels, saving the taxpayer billions of pounds", external in its general election manifesto.

However, according to figures obtained by BBC Verify via a Freedom of Information request, the number of hotels used to house asylum seekers was higher in December than when Labour took office in July.

The government has also promised "to clear the asylum backlog". Since last summer, there has been a 50% increase in decisions on asylum cases. But despite this, the UK saw a record number of asylum applications across the year, meaning the overall backlog has actually risen since the election.

For an in depth look at the other key government pledges examined by BBC Verify, click here.

Image source, PA

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has pledged to reduce net migration levels to the UK over the next four years.

He argued the proposals would bring the immigration system "back into control", denying it was a response to the big gains made by Reform UK in the local elections.

The government’s plans include:

• A ban on recruitment of care workers from overseas
• Tighter access to skilled worker visas
• Increased costs to employers who hire overseas workers
• An increase in English language requirements for all work visas
• Stricter thresholds for colleges, with at least 95% of international students expected to start their course and 90% expected to finish
• Doubling the amount of time migrants need to live in the UK before applying for settled status from five years to 10, and a fast-track system for "high-skilled, high-contributing" people

Starmer did not set a precise target, but the Home Office estimated the policies could lead to a 100,000 drop in immigration per year by 2029.

Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch argued they were "watered down" versions of Tory policies and "nowhere near the scale of the change we need to see".

As a reminder, today's figures are for the year ending December 2024 - so won't reflect the government's recent changes.

In its last release, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) estimated net migration to the UK was 728,000 in the year to June 2024.

The ONS said the estimate showed a 20% reduction compared to the year before - when net migration reached a record 906,000 in the year to June 2023.

This was driven by a “decline in long-term immigration, mainly because of declining numbers of dependants arriving on study visas” as well as decrease in the number of people coming to the UK for work-related reasons, the ONS said.

According to the data, the main reason why non-EU+ nationals came to the UK were for work (417,000), followed by study (375,000), asylum (84,000), family (76,000) and humanitarian reasons (67,000).

Welcome to our live coverage ahead of the latest UK net migration figures being released this morning.

Net migration - the number of people coming to the UK, minus the number leaving - was 728,000 in the year to June 2024, according to provisional figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

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

Successive governments have tried unsuccessfully to reduce net migration, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer said the UK risks becoming an “island of strangers” without strong rules on immigration and integration.

Earlier this month, Starmer unveiled plans to cut levels of immigration into the UK - we'll bring you more on those measures shortly.

Today's net migration figures, which will be released at 09:30 BST, are expected to show a fall.

We're poised to bring you the latest updates and analysis from our teams across the UK, so stay with us.