Net migration to the UK has dropped below 200,000 to the lowest point since the Covid pandemic, driven by fewer people coming to Britain for work, new figures show.
The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show that, in the 12 months to December 2025, the number of people entering a country minus the number of people who leave each year, was an estimated 171,000.
Net migration peaked at 944,000 in 2023 but has fallen sharply since then, driven by fewer people coming to Britain for work or study. Excluding the Covid pandemic, when international travel was halted around the world, the last time that net migration to the UK was this low was in 2012.
Net migration to the UK reached 193,000 in the year to March 2018, and was at 157,000 in the year to September 2012. During the Covid pandemic, net migration estimates crashed to around 35,000.
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