Net migration to the United Kingdom has experienced an unprecedented drop, falling by more than two-thirds in the year ending June 2025 compared to the previous twelve months, according to provisional figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The difference between arrivals and departures—net migration—plummeted to 204,000, down from 649,000, marking the lowest figure in four years and a dramatic shift in the migration landscape.
This sharp decline, as reported by the Associated Press and BBC, is primarily attributed to a significant reduction in people from outside the European Union coming to the UK for work or study, coupled with an uptick in individuals leaving the country. Long-term immigration itself stood at 898,000 for the period, a notable decrease from nearly 1.3 million the year before. The ONS notes that these numbers reflect people changing their country of residence for at least twelve months, capturing both regular and irregular migration routes—including those seeking asylum.
The dramatic fall comes after net migration reached a record high of 944,000 in the year to March 2023. That peak was fueled by the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions, the introduction of a new post-Brexit immigration system, and the arrival of people fleeing conflict in Ukraine and the crackdown in Hong Kong. Since then, tighter immigration policies enacted first by the Conservative government and later by the Labour government, which assumed power in July 2024, have contributed to the downward trend.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood welcomed the figures but made it clear that the government intends to push further. "Net migration is at its lowest level in half a decade and has fallen by more than two-thirds under this government," she stated on November 27, 2025, according to the BBC. "Last week, I announced reforms to our migration system to ensure that those who come here must contribute and put in more than they take out." Mahmood emphasized the ongoing pressure migration places on local communities and outlined plans to tighten the asylum system with sweeping changes aimed at reducing immigration and addressing the contentious issue of small boat arrivals across the English Channel.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer echoed a cautiously optimistic tone, telling GB News that the drop in net migration is a "step in the right direction." Yet, he and his government face a complex challenge: while overall migration is down, the number of people seeking asylum in the UK has reached a record high. Home Office figures show that 110,051 people claimed asylum in the year to September 2025, the highest on record. Initial decisions on asylum claims also surged, with 133,502 people receiving an initial decision—45% of whom were granted asylum. The backlog of cases awaiting a first decision fell by 36% between September 2024 and September 2025, but a growing backlog of appeals remains.
One of the most visible and contentious aspects of the asylum system has been the use of hotels to house asylum seekers. As of September 2025, more than 36,000 people were being temporarily accommodated in hotels—a 13% increase over the previous three months, but only a 2% rise compared to September 2024, and significantly lower than the peak of 56,018 in September 2023. This practice, which the government is legally obligated to maintain, has sparked local protests and legal battles, including a recent case involving Epping Forest District Council’s unsuccessful attempt to close a hotel to asylum seekers. The government has pledged to end the use of asylum hotels by the end of the current parliament, with Prime Minister Starmer setting a target of 2029 to phase out this practice entirely.
Efforts are also underway to move illegal migrants into military bases, a move the Home Office says is meant to ease pressure on local communities. A spokesperson told the BBC, "We are furious at the levels of illegal migrants and asylum hotels. Work is well under way to move illegal migrants into military bases to ease pressure on communities across the country." The government says fewer than 200 hotels remain in use, and it has vowed "to close every single one."
Despite the overall fall in migration, the number of people arriving in small boats across the Channel has soared. In the twelve months to September 2025, 45,659 people made the dangerous crossing—a 53% increase from the previous year and close to the 2022 peak of 45,774. Among these arrivals, 5,151 were children under 18, 2,700 of whom were accompanied. The Prime Minister’s spokesperson acknowledged, "the number of small boat crossings is too high," underscoring the government’s ongoing struggle to stem these perilous journeys.
To address irregular migration, the UK has piloted a "one in one out" scheme, under which 153 migrants have been removed to France, while 134 have been brought to the UK. The Home Office notes that these removals and returns are not double-counted, even in cases where individuals re-enter the country via small boat after removal.
Policy changes have played a central role in shaping this new migration reality. In July 2025, the government ended overseas recruitment for care workers and raised the annual salary threshold for skilled worker visas to £41,700 ($55,000). Migration experts, such as Peter Walsh of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford, told BBC Radio 4 that "it takes at least a year for policy changes to show up in the statistics." The latest numbers, he suggests, likely reflect reforms introduced by the previous Conservative government, such as the salary threshold increase in June 2024.
The political debate over migration remains heated. Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp credited the fall in migration to Conservative reforms but insisted, "we need to go much further." Zia Yusuf, head of policy for the Reform UK Party, went further, arguing, "there is no better example of Labour's warped priorities than today's migration figures." Meanwhile, Liberal Democrats home affairs spokesperson Max Wilkinson emphasized that the government needs to "get a grip on small boat arrivals and the use of asylum hotels."
Labour’s first year in government is now under close scrutiny, as this set of ONS statistics covers nearly the entirety of its tenure. The government has laid out further proposals to reform both legal and illegal migration, including changes to the time required for some migrants to achieve settled status and adjustments to how the right to family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights is applied in migration court cases.
As the UK navigates these complex and sometimes contradictory pressures—balancing the need to manage migration, protect public services, support economic growth, and maintain community cohesion—the numbers tell a story of dramatic change but also of persistent challenges. The coming years will reveal whether the latest reforms can deliver the stability, fairness, and security that both policymakers and the public are seeking.
