Michael Simmons Michael Simmons

Labour should be cautious about celebrating the fall in net migration

The arrivals queue at Heathrow Airport (Getty images)

How can you miss over 300,000 migrants? This morning the Office for National Statistics revised up its previous record high net migration figure to 906,000 meaning that since 2021, 307,000 more migrants are in the country than the ONS previously knew about.

So, has Britain turned the corner on migration? There has been a 20 per cent fall in net migration in the year to June compared to the 12 months before, according to figures published this morning by the ONS. Some 1.2 million people migrated to the UK compared with 1.3 million the year before. Meanwhile, 479,000 left the UK, up from 414,000 the previous year. 

Net migration is now thought to have peaked at 906,000 in the year to June 2023

The fall, the ONS says, is mainly down to fewer dependants being brought over by migrants coming to the UK to study. There are also signs that fewer migrants are coming over to work in the first place.

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