Net migration to the UK has fallen by 20% from a record 906,000 the year before, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said.

The latest net migration figure – the difference between people coming to live in and leaving the UK – stands at an estimated 728,000 in the year to June 2024.

A total of 1.2 million people are estimated to have arrived in the UK in the year ending June 2024, while 414,000 left.

Net migration for the previous year, to June 2023, has been revised upwards by 166,000 to 906,000, making it the new highest year on record instead of 2022.

ONS director Mary Gregory said the fall in the latest year was “driven by declining numbers of dependants on study visas coming from outside the EU”.

She said the first six months of 2024 saw a decrease in the number of people arriving on work visas partly due to the salary threshold rising substantially.

There was a 19% drop in student visas in the year to September 2024 – when the university year begins – compared with the previous year.

There was a 33% decrease in worker visas in that time.

The previous Conservative government changed the rules so since January, most students have not been allowed to bring dependents with them, with exceptions only for those studying at PhD level.

In March, further changes were introduced by the Tories barring care workers and senior care workers from sponsoring dependents on the health and care worker visa.

Rishi Sunak’s Tory administration also raised the minimum salary requirement for the skilled worker visa from £26,200 to £38,700 in April, making it more difficult to obtain.

Asylum spending at record high

Home Office figures also released today show government spending on asylum in the UK reached £5.38bn in the year to April 2024 – up 36% from £3.95bn in the previous year and the highest level of spending on record.

At the end of September 2024, there were 97,170 asylum cases (relating to 133,409 people) awaiting an initial decision, which is 22% fewer than the year before, but 13% higher than at the end of the previous quarter.

The latest net migration figures, from July 2023 to June 2024, cover the Conservatives’ last year in office, with Labour winning the election at the beginning of July.

The data comes a day after new Tory leader Kemi Badenoch admitted her party had failed on migration.

“We got this wrong. I more than understand the public anger on this issue, I share it,” she said on Wednesday.

Conservatives say drop is due to their policies

Former Conservative home secretary James Cleverly said: “Today’s migration figures are the first to show the impact of the changes that I brought in as home secretary.

“Numbers are still too high, but we see the first significant downward trend in years. Changes that Labour opposed and haven’t fully implemented.”

Suella Braverman, the Tory home secretary before Mr Cleverly, also claimed credit for the drop in net migration, saying it “is a result of the changes I fought for and introduced in May 2023”.

“That’s when we started to turn the tide,” she said.

“But 1.2 million arrivals a year is still too high. This is unsustainable and why we need radical change.”

Labour said the latest migration figures showed the government had started the “hard graft” of tackling the issue, and was “cleaning up the Conservatives’ mess”.

A party spokesman said: “In their own words, the Tories broke the immigration system.

“On their watch, net migration quadrupled in four years to a record high of nearly one million, despite saying they’d lower it to 100,000.

“They are an open borders party who lied time and again to the public. This is the chaos Labour inherited and any crowing from the Tories should be seen in that light.”

41% drop in study or work visas

Figures for net migration in 2022 were also revised, increasing from 607,000 to 754,000, while 2021 changed from 221,000 to 254,000.

The revisions are due to the ONS continuing to review its net migration figures as more complete data becomes available, as well as improving how it estimates the migration behaviour of people arriving in the UK from outside the EU.

The latest figures show a small increase in emigration, but the fall was mostly attributed to a decrease in immigration.

Those entering the UK as dependents of people on work or study visas dropped by 41% for each.

Main applicants for work visas decreased by 7%, while main applicants for study visas dropped by 9%.

The ONS said the fall in net migration was also driven by a rise in long-term emigration – people leaving the UK – particularly of those who came to the country on study visas.

“This is likely a consequence of the large number of students who came to the UK post-pandemic now reaching the end of their courses,” it said.