Net migration to the United Kingdom fell to 204,000 in the 12 months to June 2025, down from 649,000 the previous year, according to provisional Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures published on 27 November 2025. The 68% drop was driven mainly by fewer arrivals on work- and study-related visas.

What does the breakdown show?

ONS data show a roughly 70% decline in arrivals of non-EU+ nationals on work and study dependent visas. (EU+ refers to people from EU countries plus Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.) The figures cover nearly all of Labour's first year in government, ending June 2025.

Separately, Home Office statistics on the immigration system for the year ending September 2025 captured a record 110,051 asylum claims, the highest on record.

• 133,502 people received an initial asylum decision in the year to September 2025
• 45% of those decisions granted protection
• The backlog awaiting a first decision fell 36% between September 2024 and September 2025
• The appeals backlog has been growing

How are small boat crossings tracking?

Channel crossings rose 53% year-on-year, with 45,659 people arriving by small boat in the 12 months to September 2025. That figure approaches the 2022 peak of 45,774.

Among those arrivals were 5,151 children under 18, including 2,700 who crossed accompanied.

Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said: "Net migration is at its lowest level in half a decade and has fallen by more than two-thirds under this government. 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."

What about asylum accommodation?

More than 36,000 asylum seekers were temporarily housed in hotels in September 2025, up 13% on the previous quarter but only 2% higher than September 2024. The September 2023 peak stood at 56,018.

The government has committed to end hotel use by the end of this parliament. A Home Office spokesperson said fewer than 200 hotels now operate, and that work "is well under way to move illegal migrants into military bases to ease pressure on communities across the country."

The government also reported 153 removals to France under the "one in, one out" pilot scheme, with 134 people brought to the UK under the same arrangement. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer told GB News the fall in net migration is a "step in the right direction."

Why has net migration fallen?

Migration Observatory Senior Researcher Peter Walsh told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "For the most complete and accurate picture, it takes at least a year for policy changes to show up in the statistics. That's the definition of a long-term international migrant (someone who changes their usual country of residence for at least one year)."

Analysts have linked the fall partly to Conservative-era measures, including the higher salary threshold for skilled workers introduced in June 2024. Mahmood's referenced reforms propose changes to the length of time required to qualify for settled status.

Earlier this month, the Home Secretary outlined broader migration reforms, including changes to how the right to family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights applies in migration court cases.

What is the political reaction?

Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said Conservative reforms drove the drop but added "we need to go much further." Reform UK's head of policy Zia Yusuf said there is "no better example of Labour's warped priorities than today's migration figures." Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Max Wilkinson called on the government to "get a grip on small boat arrivals and the use of asylum hotels."

The prime minister's spokesperson said the government "accepts that the number of small boat crossings is too high."