New data from the Office for National Statistics shows a sharp reduction in UK net migration, which fell to 204,000 in the year to June 2025. The decline reflects a drop in arrivals from non-EU countries for work and study, alongside a steady rise in the number of people leaving the UK. The Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, said the figures demonstrate “major progress”, noting that net migration has fallen by more than two-thirds since its recent peak.

The latest total represents a substantial fall from the 649,000 reported in the year to June 2024, and an even more dramatic shift from the record 944,000 net migration figure seen in the 12 months to March 2023. However, Labour’s shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, argued the reduction is not sufficient and attributed much of the change to earlier Conservative reforms rather than current government policy.

In a separate release, the Home Office published updated asylum statistics covering the year to September 2025. These showed that 110,051 people sought asylum in the UK over the period, while just over 51,000 individuals entered the country by irregular means—most of them via small boat crossings, which accounted for nearly nine in ten such arrivals.

The figures also revealed that more than 36,000 asylum seekers were living in hotel accommodation as of September 2025, highlighting the continued pressures on the asylum system despite the fall in overall migration levels.