Overview
- ONS estimates show net migration fell 69% to 204,000 in the year to June 2025, with 898,000 long‑term arrivals and a record 693,000 departures, including about 252,000 British nationals.
- Officials attribute the fall to fewer non‑EU entrants for work and study and rising exits by those who originally arrived on study visas, with Indian nationals the largest non‑EU group emigrating (~74,000) and still the largest source of new study (90,000) and work (46,000) visa grants.
- Asylum now accounts for a much larger share of the balance, with 96,000 long‑term asylum arrivals to June and roughly 44% of net migration, while 36,273 people were in hotel accommodation in September, up 13% from June.
- Home Office visa data to September show work visas down 39% year on year to 273,442 and skilled routes at multi‑year lows, prompting warnings from researchers and charities about labour shortages and weaker growth.
- Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood welcomed the headline fall and signalled further reforms, even as irregular Channel crossings remained in the tens of thousands in 2025 and asylum claims reached a record 110,051 in the year to September.