Net migration 2022 figure revised to record-breaking 745,000 as latest stats show 672,000 came to UK in last year

Published

2 years ago

November 23, 2023

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Net migration hit a record-breaking 745,000 in 2022, according to revised figures from the Office for National Statistics, as its latest numbers showed 672,000 people came to the UK in the 12 months to June 2023.

In its last figures released in May, the ONS said the number for last year was 606,000 – then deemed a record high.

But looking at the numbers again, the organisation now says the actual figure was almost 140,000 higher than first thought, making it an even more unparalleled statistic.

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The latest numbers released on Wednesday showed net migration had risen when compared to the 12-month figure up to June 2022, which was 607,000, even though it was lower than the surprise annual stat for last year.

However, the ONS said while today’s number represented a drop from that unparalleled number, it was “too early to say if this is the start of a new downward trend”, even though it did indicate a slowing of immigration coupled with increasing emigration.

Net migration is calculated by looking at the number of people arriving in the UK when both immigration (people coming to the UK) and emigration (people leaving the UK) are taken into account.

Tory backbenchers have already begun to hit out at the numbers, with former minister Simon Clarke saying it was “unsustainable both economically and socially” to have legal migration so high.

Another Conservative MP, Jonathan Gullis, called the figures “completely unacceptable to the majority of the British people”, and called for “drastic action”.

It comes as Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under increasing pressure from the right of his party to reduce net migration in light of the 2019 Tory manifesto, which promised to bring the “overall number down”.

Home Secretary James Cleverly insisted the government remained “completely committed to reducing levels of legal migration, while also “focusing relentlessly” on tackling illegal migration.

He said ministers were “working across government on further measures to prevent exploitation and manipulation of our visa system, including clamping down on those that take advantage of the flexibility of the immigration system”.

But Labour’s shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, said today’s statistics showed “the scale of utter Tory failure on immigration, asylum, and the economy”.

Expect clamour from Tory right as Sunak seeks to strike delicate balance

It’s more bad news for the government on migration.

There are lots of headline figures coming out of the ONS figures today, but the most important one is that net migration to the UK in the year to December 2022 has been revised up to 745,000.

That is a huge number, both higher than previously thought and a new record.

In the 2019 manifesto, the Conservatives pledged to “bring overall numbers down”, with Boris Johnson talking about 250,000.

Rishi Sunak has tried to move away from specific targets, but he has put immigration, in particular illegal migration, at the heart of his pitch to the country.

Whatever complexities behind rising figures, expect a clamour from the right of the Conservative Party.

I’m told there could be an intervention from former home secretary Suella Braverman who, we understand, along with immigration minister Robert Jenrick, had previously pushed for an overall cap to net migration when she was in office.

We expect we could hear more from the Home Office about measures to bring down net migration as early as next week.

I understand this could include a crackdown on abuses in the visa system, increasing salary thresholds, changes to the rules on bringing families over on working visas and looking again at the shortage occupation scheme.

The PM knows, however, there is a delicate balance to be struck when it comes to economic concerns over workforce shortages.

The current home secretary appears to be keeping a low profile for now, but expect more on net migration over the coming weeks.

James Cleverly knows immigration matters to many voters and to his party.

In 2010, then prime minister David Cameron – now Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron – pledged to bring net migration down to the “tens of thousands”, though successive Tory governments have sought to move away from exact targets.

According to the ONS, most people arriving in the UK in the year to June 2023 were non-EU nationals – a total of 968,000 – followed by 129,000 EU citizens and 84,000 British people.

But both EU nationals and Britons were leaving the country in greater numbers, with 10,000 more EU nationals leaving than arriving and 86,000 more British nationals leaving than arriving – while the net figure for non-EU people was 768,000 more arriving than leaving.

Work was the biggest reason people from outside the EU migrated to the UK – a net figure of 278,000 and the first time employment was the most popular reason – followed by a net figure of 263,000 coming for study.

The recent rise in work visas was mainly driven by people taking jobs in the health and care sectors.

But when it came to those studying, the ONS’s Jay Lindop said the number was rising as “we’re not only seeing more students arrive, but we can also see they’re staying for longer”.

They also said more dependants of people with work and study visas had come to the UK too.

Meanwhile, the number of people granted asylum to the UK for the year has remained relatively stable, as while it hit 88,000, compared with 73,000 in year to June 2022, ongoing COVID restrictions in that period had an impact.

The ONS said migration to the UK had been “relatively stable” before the COVID pandemic, but “patterns and behaviours have been shifting considerably since then”.

The statistics experts said net migration had “increased sharply” since 2021 due to a rise in immigration from non-EU countries – including people coming by humanitarian routes from Ukraine and Hong Kong – as well as an increase in non-EU students and workers.

Government wants to bring migration down

The government has insisted it remains committed to reducing migration, and has already introduced measures to reduce the figure, including stopping international students who come to the UK from bringing family with them except under specific circumstances.

The New Conservatives group on the Tory right has called for ministers to close temporary visa schemes for care workers and to cap the number of refugees resettling in the UK at 20,000, in a bid to reduce net migration to 226,000 by the time of the election.

Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that Mr Sunak’s policy of sending asylum seekers to Rwanda – a key part of his plan to stop small boats crossing the Channel – was unlawful.

The Rwanda policy would see anyone arriving in the UK by unauthorised means, such as by Channel crossings, deported to the African country to claim asylum there and not the UK.

But in its landmark ruling last Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that those sent to Rwanda would be at “real risk” of being sent back to their country of origin regardless of whether their asylum claim was justified or not – something that would breach international human rights laws.

In the aftermath of the ruling, Mr Sunak doubled down on the policy, telling MPs he was prepared to “change laws and revisit… international relationships” if they were “frustrating” his plans.

However, he also acknowledged that even if domestic laws were changed, the government could still face legal challenges from the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) and vowed: “I will not allow a foreign court to block these flights.”

The stalemate over Rwanda has bolstered calls from some in the Tory party for the UK to withdraw from the ECHR altogether after an injunction last June stopped the first scheduled flights from taking off.

Politics

PM backs call for MP investigation into Prince Andrew’s housing arrangement

Published

3 hours ago

October 22, 2025

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PM backs call for MP investigation into Prince Andrew's housing arrangement

Sir Keir Starmer has backed a call for a Commons investigation into Prince Andrew’s housing arrangement.

The King’s brother is still living in the Royal Lodge, a 30-room Windsor mansion owned by the Crown Estate, despite relinquishing his Duke of York title last week.

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It has emerged he only pays a “peppercorn rent” on the property – a legal term used in leases to show that rent technically exists, so the lease is valid, but it’s nominal – often £1 a year or even nothing at all.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey has called for a select committee inquiry into the Crown Estate, in which Prince Andrew would be called to give evidence.

Speaking in Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Ed said: “Given the revelations about Royal Lodge, does the prime minister agree that this House needs to properly scrutinise the Crown Estate to ensure taxpayers’ interests are protected.

“The chancellor herself has said that the current arrangements are wrong.

“So will the prime minister support a select committee inquiry, so all those involved can be called for evidence, including the current occupant?”

Responding, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: “It’s important in relation to all Crown properties that there is proper scrutiny, and I certainly support that.”

A document from the Crown Estate, which oversees the Royal Family’s land and property holdings, shows Andrew signed a 75-year lease on the Royal Lodge in 2003.

It reveals he paid £1m for the lease and that since then he has paid “one peppercorn” of rent “if demanded” per year.

Andrew was also required to pay a further £7.5m for refurbishments completed in 2005, according to a report by the National Audit Office.

The agreement also contains a clause that states the Crown Estate would have to pay Andrew around £558,000 if he gave up the lease.

The royal is under pressure to do just that amid continued scrutiny over his relationship with paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein.

There has also been fresh focus on his sex accuser Virginia Giuffre’s allegations, which Andrew denies, after the publication of her posthumous memoirs.

Senior Tory Robert Jenrick said it was “about time Prince Andrew took himself off to live in private” as “the public are sick of him”.

Asked about his living arrangement on Tuesday, Chancellor Rachel Reeves told the BBC: “I do think people should pay their way and pay their fair share.”

Politics

‘Man deported under ‘one in, one out’ scheme returns to UK in small boat

Published

3 hours ago

October 22, 2025

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'Man deported under 'one in, one out' scheme returns to UK in small boat

A migrant who was deported back to France under the government’s flagship “one in, one out” scheme has returned to the UK on a small boat.

The Iranian national was initially detained when he entered the UK on a small boat on 6 August. He was removed under the government’s deal with France on 19 September, and he returned on 18 October.

He has been detained once again, and Sky News understands that the government is set to expedite his removal back to France.

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The news comes as Sky News learns that more migrants have crossed the Channel on a small boat in 2025 so far than the entirety of 2024.

The “one in, one out” treaty with France allows the UK to return anyone who arrives in the UK on a small boat back to France, in exchange for France sending to the UK the same number of people who have never previously tried to enter illegally.

The man told The Guardian newspaper that he had been a victim of modern slavery at the hands of people smugglers in northern France.

“If I had felt that France was safe for me I would never have returned to the UK,” he claimed.

“When we were returned to France we were taken to a shelter in Paris. I didn’t dare to go out because I was afraid for my life. The smugglers are very dangerous. They always carry weapons and knives. I fell into the trap of a human trafficking network in the forests of France before I crossed to the UK from France the first time.

“They took me like a worthless object, forced me to work, abused me, and threatened me with a gun and told me I would be killed if I made the slightest protest. Every day and every night, I was filled with terror and stress. Every day I live in fear and anxiety, every loud noise, every shadow, every strange face scares me.

“When I reached UK the first time and Home Office asked what had happened to me I was crying and couldn’t speak about this because of shame.”

The UK government’s position is that France is a safe country.

‘Rwanda is further than France’

The aim of the agreement with France is to create a disincentive for migrants to make the dangerous crossing across the Channel. But Downing Street repeatedly refused to describe the scheme as a “deterrent” this afternoon, insisting that the scheme is among a number of measures the government is taking to stop small boat crossings.

A Home Office spokesperson said in a statement: “We will not accept any abuse of our borders, and we will do everything in our power to remove those without the legal right to be here.

“Individuals who are returned under the pilot and subsequently attempt to re-enter the UK illegally will be removed.”

Former Tory home secretary James Cleverly quipped on social media that “Rwanda is a lot further away than France”, arguing that had their embattled scheme got off the ground, it would have been harder for migrants to make the return journey.

The prime minister is hosting Western Balkans leaders on Wednesday as the government tries to crack down on people smuggling and illegal migration.

But despite various government efforts, Sky News understands that more migrants have crossed the English Channel in small boats so far this year than in the whole of 2024, Sky News understands

While the exact number of people who have made the crossing today is not set to be published until tomorrow, Home Office sources have confirmed that more than 36,816 people – the total for 2024 – have now crossed the Channel so far in 2025.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said in a statement: “The previous government left our borders in crisis, and we are still living with the consequences. These figures are shameful – the British people deserve better.

“This government is taking action. We have detained and removed more than 35,000 who were here illegally. Our historic deal with the French means those who arrive on small boats are now being sent back.

“But it is clear we must go further and faster – removing more of those here illegally, and stopping migrants from making small boat crossings in the first place.

“And I have been clear: I will do whatever it takes to restore order to our border.”