The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has confirmed that net migration fell to 204,000 in the 12 months to June 2025, down from 660,000 a year earlier and a record 944,000 at the post-pandemic peak in March 2023. The swing is the sharpest two-year contraction since modern records began and returns flows to broadly pre-Brexit levels.
The data show a collapse in non-EU net migration, which dropped by 662,000 over two years as successive Conservative and Labour administrations raised salary thresholds for Skilled Worker visas, curtailed dependants on student routes and ended a range of short-term work schemes. Work-visa issuances fell 63 % and student arrivals 71 % compared with 2023. Meanwhile, EU net migration remained negative (-70,000) as more Europeans left than arrived. A record 109,000 British nationals—mostly 16- to 34-year-olds—also emigrated, highlighting continuing ‘brain-drain’ concerns.
![Net migration to the UK tumbles 69 % as tighter visa rules bite]()
One category is bucking the trend: asylum seekers now account for 44 % of long-term immigration. Claims hit an all-time high of 110,051 and more than 36,000 people are in hotel accommodation, adding £10 million a day to the Home Office’s bill. Deportations remain low despite Labour’s pledge to accelerate removals, and small-boat crossings continue—spurring tougher sea-patrol cooperation with France announced this week.
Business implications are mixed. Employers in health, social care and hospitality—sectors most reliant on lower-paid overseas workers—face acute shortages and higher wage costs. Conversely, the fall eases pressure on housing and public services in the short term and may temper anti-immigration rhetoric ahead of the 2026 General Election. Multinationals are reassessing mobility pipelines, accelerating intra-company transfers and lobbying for exemptions where domestic talent is scarce.
For mobility managers, the message is clear: plan for longer lead-times, higher salary offers and stricter compliance checks. Organisations that can demonstrate training commitments or high-value investment continue to obtain allocations, but the era of easy access to the UK labour market has definitively ended.
The data show a collapse in non-EU net migration, which dropped by 662,000 over two years as successive Conservative and Labour administrations raised salary thresholds for Skilled Worker visas, curtailed dependants on student routes and ended a range of short-term work schemes. Work-visa issuances fell 63 % and student arrivals 71 % compared with 2023. Meanwhile, EU net migration remained negative (-70,000) as more Europeans left than arrived. A record 109,000 British nationals—mostly 16- to 34-year-olds—also emigrated, highlighting continuing ‘brain-drain’ concerns.
One category is bucking the trend: asylum seekers now account for 44 % of long-term immigration. Claims hit an all-time high of 110,051 and more than 36,000 people are in hotel accommodation, adding £10 million a day to the Home Office’s bill. Deportations remain low despite Labour’s pledge to accelerate removals, and small-boat crossings continue—spurring tougher sea-patrol cooperation with France announced this week.
Business implications are mixed. Employers in health, social care and hospitality—sectors most reliant on lower-paid overseas workers—face acute shortages and higher wage costs. Conversely, the fall eases pressure on housing and public services in the short term and may temper anti-immigration rhetoric ahead of the 2026 General Election. Multinationals are reassessing mobility pipelines, accelerating intra-company transfers and lobbying for exemptions where domestic talent is scarce.
For mobility managers, the message is clear: plan for longer lead-times, higher salary offers and stricter compliance checks. Organisations that can demonstrate training commitments or high-value investment continue to obtain allocations, but the era of easy access to the UK labour market has definitively ended.
