Net migration to the UK has fallen by almost 50%
Key Points
- Net migration fell by nearly 50% in 2025 to just 171,000 as Labour progresses with its policies aimed at controlling the number of people entering the UK.
- Non-EU migration has continued to fall, although migrants from outside the EU still make up the largest portion of immigrants.
- Net migration among British and EU nationals is net-negative, meaning more people in these groups are leaving the UK than moving to it.
Net migration to the UK has continued to fall under the Labour government, dropping by almost half in 2025.
According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), overall net migration to the UK as of December 2025 was just 171,000 – down from 331,000 a year earlier.
The ONS said the biggest driver of this decline was a steep drop in the number of people moving to the UK for work-related reasons.
Non-EU migration fell by two thirds after peaking in 2023, and in the most recent period, the number of people arriving in the UK from outside the EU has continued this decline.
The most recent net migration figures mark the lowest since 2012, with the exception of early 2021 during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Net migration for British and EU nationals has also remained negative. In 2025, the ONS estimates that net migration of British nationals was negative 136,000, while for EU nationals it was 42,000.
Most of those who now immigrate to the UK are from outside of the EU, with 627,000 arriving to the UK in 2025. Most came for work and study-related reasons, with only 14% being asylum applicants.
Population growth and migration
The Labour government has proposed new measures to clamp down on immigration, and it is these could already be having an effect on the net number of people arriving in the United Kingdom.
Immigration may be a sensitive political topic, but it is also the primary driver of population growth in the United Kingdom.
Without immigration, the number of people in the UK would be declining, and the government would be faced with an increasing welfare and pensions bill and a shrinking tax base from which to fund it.
The fertility rate in the UK, as in many other countries, is collapsing and is already below the replacement rate. The ONS projected last year that by 2047, every year 107,000 more people will die than be born in the United Kingdom.
These projections, however, accounted for stable positive net migration of around 340,000 people per year from 2028 onwards.
The data published by the ONS today shows that net immigration has already fallen below this projection, meaning that population growth may be more subdued than expected.
