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Total immigration to the UK exceeded 900,000 in the year to June 2023, the highest annual figure on record and more than previously thought, according to government figures released on Thursday.
The updated Office of National Statistics figure of 906,000 during this period, after the epidemic, exceeded the existing figure of 740,000.
The ALL the jump is said to be due to increased awareness of people coming from Ukraine and people already in the UK getting long-term visas.
However, it added that total migration fell by 20 per cent to 728,000 in the 12 months to June this year, after the Conservative government strengthened controls for international students and care workers and raised the wage limit to support skilled workers.
Figures showing that immigration has been running at a much higher rate than previously thought will put pressure on the Labor government. Yvette Cooper, the home secretary, has promised to cut immigration and keep the Conservatives’ reforms in place.
ONS figures show that around 1mn of the 1.2mn people who came to live in the UK in the year to June were not EU citizens. Of these, 845,000 were of working age and 179,000 were children. The top countries of origin were India, Nigeria, Pakistan, China and Zimbabwe.
Marley Morris, a partner at the think tank IPPR, said the new government faced “difficult decisions on immigration” because further reductions in numbers “would make it difficult to recruit people in key sectors such as social care, and university funding.” “.
On Thursday, the Home Office announced new measures to prevent employers from hiring migrants if they repeatedly breach visa rules – including if they treat migrants unfairly.
In a speech on Wednesday that anticipated the release of the information, Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservative Party, acknowledged how much immigration has increased in her party’s 14 years, saying the Tories were “wrong”.
Various visa applications on Thursday said, however, that the recent decline in immigration to the UK is worsening.
Home Office figures for September show a 65 per cent drop in applications for health and care workers, a 19 per cent drop in students and 84 per cent in student dependents.
The ONS said the decline in net migration in the year to June was mainly due to fewer families accompanying students, as well as students who had arrived in previous years returning home.
About 295,000 non-EU people came to study, similar to last year’s student intake, but they brought fewer relatives, reflecting the new immigration rules that prevent students on a one-year master’s course from bringing dependents.
Around 184,000 non-EU people came on a working visa, down from 219,000 in the year to December 2023. The number of family members who joined increased to 233,000, up from 166,000 in the year to June 2023.
However, this should reflect the rush to get visas before UK family care workers are banned. The ONS said the latest figures show signs of falling.
Asylum seekers accounted for 84,000 or 8 per cent of arrivals in the UK from outside the EU, including those arriving via regular and irregular routes, such as small boats.
Home Office quarterly figures released on Thursday show an 18 per cent drop in migrants arriving via irregular routes in the year to September. Of these nearly 30,000 or 81 per cent crossed the Channel in small boats, slightly down on the previous year.
This article has been amended to clarify that the previous estimate for net migration for the 12 months to June 2023 was 740,000.
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