Live EventsYou Might Also Like: Historic fall in UK migration can’t come fast enough for StarmerYou Might Also Like: UK gets tough on migration, doubles citizenship wait timesYou Might Also Like: UK may set up migrant 'return hubs' in other countries for rejected asylum seekersLong-term net migration to Britain fell by 50% in 2024, official data showed on Thursday, as fewer people arrived on work and study visas following rule changes to cut the number of arrivals.Net migration - an estimate of the number of people migrating to Britain minus those leaving - dropped to 431,000 from 860,000 in 2023, the Office for National Statistics said.The data will offer some relief to Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who earlier in May promised to reduce migration significantly over the next four years, under pressure from Nigel Farage's right-wing, anti-immigration Reform UK party.Starmer became prime minister in July 2024. The Conservative Party, in government prior to Starmer's election, said the decrease reflected changes to visa rules they brought in. (Join our ETNRI WhatsApp channel for all the latest updates)The government welcomed the drop and said changes announced earlier this month would drive net migration even lower.The ONS said the change was driven by lower immigration from countries outside the European Union, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and Switzerland. In recent years this category has included high numbers of people from India, Nigeria and Pakistan. The number of dependents from both categories also dropped sharply.In 2023, the Conservative government raised the minimum salary threshold for foreign skilled workers and made it harder for workers and students to bring their families with them.
