Net migration to UK soared far above original estimates in 2023, to a record 900,000, although tougher visa rules have started to reduce the number of arrivals, official data showed on Thursday.
Voters in the United Kingdom – whose overall population is around 68 million – have expressed concern that the large number of arrivals could worsen housing shortages and put further strain on public services. But employers in sectors such as healthcare say they cannot function without foreign workers.
Unprecedented Levels
Data from the Office for National Statistics on Thursday showed the net migration in UK of 906,000 for the 12 months to June 2023, revised up from the previous estimate of 740,000, in what the ONS described as “unprecedented levels” since 2021.
Numbers did fall 20% from the record high to 728,000 for the year to June 2024, the ONS said, driven by declining numbers of dependents coming with those on study visas after the rules were changed.
High levels of legal migration in 2016 was one of the driving forces behind Britain’s vote to leave the European Union. In the year to end-June 2016, the last 12-month period before the Brexit vote, net migration stood at 321,000.
While post-Brexit visa changes saw a sharp drop in the number of EU migrants to Britain, new work visa rules led to a surge in immigration from India, Nigeria and Pakistan, often to fill health and social care vacancies.
Error Of Conservatives?
The jump to a record level in 2023 came under the previous Conservative government, which had promised to cut migration and did introduce measures to curb students and care workers from bringing in family members.
The current Labour government, elected in July, has also said it wants to reduce numbers by training workers to fill skills gaps. It blamed the record rises on the Conservatives.
“In the space of four years, net migration quadrupled to almost a million,” Labour’s migration minister Seema Malhotra told reporters. She declined to set out a specific target.
The big jump in the number for 2023 was attributed to more available data, more information on visas for Ukrainians and improvements in how migration is calculated, the ONS said.
