UK net migration 20% lower in 2024 than first thought, ONS says
According to updated estimates from the Office of National Statistics (ONS), net migration to the UK last year was 20% lower than previously expected. The number has been reduced by 86,000 people entering and leaving the country, and now stands at 345,000 in 2024. The driving factor behind the change is that more British nationals are expected to have emigrated in 2024 than ever before, with 100,000 fewer now believed to be living in the United Kingdom. According to the statistics, migration in the UK soared more than anticipated between April 2022 and March 2023, up 944,000 to the country's population between April 20,22 and 2023. According to previous estimates, the number of 906,000 people by June 2023 would have risen by 906,000 by June 20,2023
The latest estimates add to the overall estimate of net migration to the UK between 2021 and 2024, down just slightly from 2. 6 million people to 2. 5 million in the revised report. It comes after the government revealed new plans aimed at reforming the asylum system, which included periodic reviews of asylum status and restrictions on migrants' right to claim benefits.
The ONS has been updating the software that has been used to produce official estimates of migration since 2020. Statisticians polled a small number of passengers at airports and ports about their travel plans and found out how many arrivals would remain to remain long before the pandemic. However, the findings obtained by this technique were implausibly poor
for British nationals, according to Dr Madeleine Sumption, head of the Migration Observatory think tank. The new estimates, according to ONS officials, are based on how often people appear in tax and welfare records, giving a more accurate and detailed picture of migration in the United Kingdom. According to the ONS, 257,000 British nationals left the country in 2024, while 143,000 BritONS living in another country returned to the UK in 2023. That means net migration of Britons - the difference between departures and arrivals - is 114,000 people rather than the initial estimate of 17,000. These figures are still not definitive
according to Dr. Sumption, because they don't know when someone enters or leaves the country. If someone stays in the country but disappears from tax and welfare records because they are living on savings, it can cause problems. According to skewing migration estimates, such a person would be counted as an emigrant. The ONS hasn't used this method to track EU migration, instead using visa and border data collected by the Home Office. According to data obtained under the old model, there were 96,000 fewer EU citizens in the UK by the end of 2024, but the new one has reduced the figure to 69,000.
Why has migration been rising?
The most notable change has been attributed to changes brought in under Boris Johnson's government from 2021, according to critics. The three main reasons have been identified as an increase in work visas, particularly in health and social care, as an rise in student visas and the opening of humanitarian routes for people from Ukraine, Hong Kong, and Afghanistan. In that period, small boat crossings have also increased. So far this year, 39,075 people have crossed the Channel. Both the Conservative and Labour governments have struggled to combat the increasing migration figures. Rishi Sunak, the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, has placed limits on the right of students to bring their families to the UK. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood declared major reforms to the asylum system on Monday, saying it was
If we don't deal with this crisis, we will lead more people down a path that begins with rage and ends in hatred.out of control and unfair. Mahmood wrote in the House of Commons:
