Net migration has fallen sharply in the UK, the latest official figures show.

The data, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), estimates that net migration has halved from 860,000 in the year ending December 2023 to 431,000 in the year ending December 2024.

The drop is the largest ever recorded for a 12-month period, and marks the most significant calendar-year fall in net migration since the early stages of the pandemic.

Politics latest: Net migration to the UK estimated to have halved

Meanwhile, long-term immigration fell below one million for the first time in around three years.

That was estimated to be 948,000 in the year ending December 2024, down by almost a third from 1,326,000 in the previous 12 months and below a million for the first time since the 12 months to March 2022.

Emigration rose by around 11% to an estimated 517,000 for the year to December, up from 466,000 in the previous year.

Home Secretary Yvette Cooper hailed a 300,000 drop in net migration since the start of the Labour government last July as “important and welcome”.

She said: “These figures show a big increase in returns of failed asylum seekers and foreign national offenders, record levels of illegal working penalties, and the asylum backlog and hotel use coming down.”

Net migration hit a record high of 906,000 in June 2023, and stood at 728,000 in the year to June 2024, shortly before Labour took over from the previous Conservative government.

But former home secretary James Cleverly said while Labour “will try to claim credit” for the falling numbers, the changes are a result of policies enacted while he was in government.

What caused this fall in net migration?

The sharp fall reported on Thursday is thought to be driven by a decrease in immigration from non-European Union nationals.

The ONS also noted plummeting numbers of people coming to work and study in the UK.

Additionally, these estimates follow restrictions introduced under the Conservatives in early 2024 on people eligible to travel to the UK on work or study visas.

Mary Gregory, the director of population statistics at the ONS, said the fall is “driven by falling numbers of people coming to work and study, particularly student dependants”.

She said: “There has also been an increase in emigration over the 12 months to December 2024, especially people leaving who originally came on study visas once pandemic travel restrictions to the UK were eased.”

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The new estimates come less than a fortnight after Sir Keir Starmer set out a series of measures aimed at reducing further the number of people moving long term to the UK.

The prime minister, who said the country risks becoming an “island of strangers” without better integration, said he wanted net migration to have fallen “significantly” by the next general election – but refused to set a target number.

Sir Keir’s plan includes reforming work and study visas and requiring a higher level of English across all immigration routes, and is expected to reduce the number of people coming to the UK by up to 100,000 per year.

However, the Conservatives have claimed credit for the fall.

Former home secretary James Cleverly said while Labour “will try to claim credit”, the changes are a result of policies enacted while he was in government.

He said: “This drop is because of the visa rule changes that I put in place. Labour will try to claim credit for these figures but they criticised me at the time, and have failed to fully implement the changes.”