Net migration to the UK halved in 2024, falling from 860,000 to an estimated 431,000 in just 12 months.
The figures, released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), represent the largest calendar-year drop in net migration since the pandemic and the biggest numerical decrease for any 12-month period on record.
GB News reports that the fall has been largely attributed to a huge decline in the number of people arriving to work and study, particularly dependants of international students, following new visa restrictions introduced earlier in 2024.
The total number of long-term immigrants dropped to 948,000 by the end of 2024, nearly one-third from the previous year, while emigration rose by 11%, reaching an estimated 517,000.
This return to 2017 emigration levels also reflects the departure of many individuals who initially came to the UK on study visas during the post-pandemic period.
ONS Director of Population Statistics, Mary Gregory, delivering the report, noted that policy changes restricting work and study visas were key to the shift.
“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,” she said.
The figures come just days after Starmer declared that high net migration had done “incalculable” damage to British society, unveiling new reforms to tighten immigration rules further.
His plan includes higher English language requirements, changes to skilled worker criteria, and scrapping certain visa routes such as those for social care workers.
The dramatic drop is likely to boost Labour’s standing on immigration at a time when the party faces growing pressure from Reform UK, which has campaigned for a freeze on all immigration.
Labour’s immigration overhaul, coupled with the deportation of nearly 30,000 failed asylum seekers and foreign offenders since coming to power, marks a clear progress from the previous Conservative administration, under which net migration peaked at 906,000.
Starmer has declined to set a numerical target but insists he expects “significant” further reductions by the next general election.
