Net migration halved final 12 months in enhance to Keir Starmer | EUROtoday

Net migration to the UK nearly halved final 12 months in a lift to Sir Keir Starmer as he clamps down on immigration in a bid to fend off Nigel Farage and Reform UK.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) stated 948,000 folks got here to Britain in 2024, with 519,000 leaving.

The 431,000 internet migration determine is round half the 860,000 stage of internet migration seen a 12 months earlier.

The figures nonetheless cowl the interval earlier than Labour got here into energy, so they don’t account for the impression of measures introduced by the prime minister this month to slash the variety of folks coming to the UK.

The ONS stated the sharp fall was pushed by a decline in non-EU nationals coming to the UK on work and scholar visas. It added that there was a 49 per cent fall in non-EU nationals coming to the UK for work in contrast with the earlier 12 months, which means 108,000 fewer arrivals.

That got here alongside an 86 per cent drop within the variety of dependents delivered to the UK by college students, which means 105,000 fewer arrivals, and a 35 per cent fall in dependents of employees coming to the UK.

There was additionally an uptick within the quantity of people that got here to the UK on scholar visas leaving the nation following the total easing of Covid journey restrictions, the ONS stated.

Net migration climbed to a file 906,000 within the 12 months to June 2023, and it stood at 728,000 within the 12 months as much as June 2024. With fewer work and research visas being granted by the Home Office, it’s anticipated that the general estimated internet migration to the UK will fall.

The prime minister has already promised that the federal government’s new immigration measures will imply internet migration falls “significantly” over the subsequent 4 years.

Plans unveiled final week embody a ban on the recruitment of care employees from abroad, tightened entry to expert employee visas, and more durable English language necessities for spouses coming to the UK.

Though Sir Keir didn’t set a goal for the way a lot the federal government desires to carry internet migration down by, the Home Office estimated that the brand new insurance policies might result in a 100,000 drop in immigration per 12 months by 2029.