Net migration drops in the UK drastically

Fewer people coming to study and work!

The decrease is a result of fewer arrivals for work and study reasons, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

And now the difference between the number of people arriving has fallen from 649,000 to 204,000.

On the other hand, the figures by Home Office show that a record high number of 100,051 people claimed asylum in the year to September 2025.

The ONS release on net migration to the year ending June and Home Office figures on immigration system for the year ending September, are two separate releases that were published on Thursday.

As per the Home Office numbers, initial decisions on asylum claims have increased to 133,052 receiving an initial decision across the year.

Nearly half of these, or about 45%, were granted.

As stated in the release: “Decision making has reached a historically high level and the numbers of cases awaiting an initial decision fell 36% between September 2024 and September 2025, despite a record high number of asylum claims in this period”.

And by end of this parliament, the government has committed to end the use of asylum hotels.

According to the figures published on Thursday, in September, over 36,000 people were housed temporarily in hotels.

And this marks an increase by 13% on the last three months, however, the rise over the last year is smaller, only 2% from September 2024, as a result of fluctuation.

The ONS statistics regarding net migration take into consideration those who are claiming asylum in the UK after entering through both regular and irregular routes, and other forms of immigration too, and the figures relate to people who have changed their place of residence for a period of a year or longer.

A dramatic drop in the overall figures to June 2025, also comes alongside a fall of about 70 per cent in arrivals of non-EU+ nationals (EU+ meaning people from European Union countries plus Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland), on work and study dependent visas.