Net migration to UK falls by nearly 50% after Labour’s vow to cut numbers

News / Fri 22nd May 2026 at 12:07pm

NET migration to the UK fell by nearly 50% to 171,000 last year, according to official figures released on Thursday, in what will be seen as a boost for Keir Starmer’s government reports The Guardian.

Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the difference between the number of people moving to the UK and the number of people leaving was at its lowest level since 2021.

The figure was down 48% year on year from 331,000 in 2024, extending a sharp decline from a record peak of 944,000 in 2023.

Separate Home Office statistics showed that the number of asylum seekers housed in so-called asylum hotels had also dropped, with a 35% year-on-year fall to 20,885 at the end of March.

Migration to UK:

2023: 944,000

2024: 331,000

2025: 171,000

Click below for full story.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2026/may/21/net-migration-uk-falls-labour-vow-cut-numbers

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyp1ekd584o

6 Comments for Net migration to UK falls by nearly 50% after Labour’s vow to cut numbers:

Stuart G

2026-05-22 12:10:23

I assume everyone will be signing Labour's praises for getting migration under control, reducing the number of asylum seekers and slashing the number of both asylum hotels and the number of people in them? No? There's a surprise! Astounding the silence on this page!

jarrett

2026-05-22 14:50:31

Home Office Dash 8 has been up over the Channel for hours but will not stop the Calais dinghy club from operating.

Mr George

2026-05-22 15:25:26

Stuart G, was amusing yesterday, no mention of this news story on the Daily Mail or the Express. You just know had the numbers been higher, it would've been huge front page news for them.

Oakie

2026-05-22 15:29:00

Starmer said he would reduce migration. He has.

Seamus

2026-05-22 17:44:02

Stuart, even Labour admitted the drop is due to the Conservatives actions in the last few months in office. A toughening up of the "what is a skilled worker". Students were no longer able to bring family members with them to stop foreign offenders from exploiting the "right to a family life" to remain in Britain. They historically sought to close legal loopholes, and in April 2024, they raised the minimum income requirement for family and spouse visas to £29,000. Additionally, they banned care workers and those on certain temporary shortage visas from bringing dependants with them. They also cracked down on students going to non existent universities but instead going to work in the illegal economy. So whilst you can certainly say the figures have gone down, very little labour has done, has caused that drop.

FedUpPensioner

2026-05-23 11:25:35

Taken from yesterdays Spectator "‘Net migration’ is a misleading measurement, because it is produced by subtracting departures from arrivals. The ONS estimates that 813,000 people immigrated to the UK last year, with 627,000 (77 per cent) of them arriving from non-EU countries. These included 138,000 Indians, 56,000 Pakistanis, 54,000 Chinese and 47,000 Nigerians. Meanwhile, 642,000 left the UK – including a quarter of million British nationals and 118,000 EU nationals. This represents substantial population change – almost 400,000 Brits and Europeans left this country last year, to be replaced by 627,000 migrants from some of the poorest countries in the world."