Net migration to the UK almost halved last year in a boost to Sir Keir Starmer as he clamps down on immigration in a bid to fend off Nigel Farage and Reform UK.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said 948,000 people came to Britain in 2024, with 519,000 leaving.
The 431,000 net migration figure is around half the 860,000 level of net migration seen a year earlier and marks the largest numerical fall on record.
The figures still cover the period before Labour came into power, so they do not account for the impact of measures announced by the prime minister this month to slash the number of people coming to the UK.
The ONS said the sharp fall was driven by a decline in non-EU nationals coming to the UK on work and student visas. It added that there was a 49 per cent fall in non-EU nationals coming to the UK for work compared with the previous year, meaning 108,000 fewer arrivals.
That came alongside an 86 per cent drop in the number of dependents brought to the UK by students, meaning 105,000 fewer arrivals, and a 35 per cent fall in dependents of workers coming to the UK.
There was also an uptick in the number of people who came to the UK on student visas leaving the country following the full easing of Covid travel restrictions, the ONS said.
Net migration climbed to a record 906,000 in the year to June 2023, and it stood at 728,000 in the year up to June 2024. With fewer work and study visas being granted by the Home Office, it is expected that the overall estimated net migration to the UK will fall.
The prime minister has already promised that the government’s new immigration measures will mean net migration falls “significantly” over the next four years.
Plans unveiled last week include a ban on the recruitment of care workers from overseas, tightened access to skilled worker visas, and tougher English language requirements for spouses coming to the UK.
Though Sir Keir did not set a target for how much the government wants to bring net migration down by, the Home Office estimated that the new policies could lead to a 100,000 drop in immigration per year by 2029.
