22-05-2025
Drop in work visas and students halved net migration, ONS figures show
Net migration fell by almost 50% in 2024 compared to the previous year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).New estimates showed 431,000 more people arrived in the UK than left over the 12-month period, compared to 860,000 a year earlier - the largest numerical drop on decrease was driven by declining numbers of people coming to work and study in the UK, and large numbers of people who arrived on study visas after Covid-19 pandemic restrictions eased was also a large drop in the number of dependents accompanying people arriving in the UK on work and study visas, the ONS said.
The previous biggest calendar year fall was during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic, when net migration dropped from 184,000 in the year ending December 2019 to 93,000 in December large falls announced on Thursday were the result of restrictions on visas introduced by the outgoing Conservative government and the ongoing impact of the pandemic. There was a large drop in the number of students bringing family members to the UK - a key objective of the changes introduced by James Cleverly, the last Tory home the same time, the end of global travel restrictions caused by the pandemic meant people who delayed their intention to move away finally went through with their group included people who came to the UK to study and have now data released on Thursday by the Home Office showed the number of asylum seekers being housed in hotels has fallen - but is still higher than when Labour came to power last Office statistics showed there were 32,345 asylum seekers living in taxpayer-funded hotels in March 2025, down from 38,079 in December figure is far lower than the record of 58,636 under the last Conservative government in June it represents a 9% increase since Labour came to power – the number of asylum seekers in hotels was 29,585 in June 2024.
