UK Net Migration Rate Falls to 171,000 as Starmer Hails Progress
UK net migration rate fell to 171,000 last year, cutting the number of people added to the UK's population to almost half the 2024 level. The figure was the lowest since 2012, excluding the Covid pandemic, and the Office for National Statistics said net migration was down to levels last seen in early 2021.
Sir Keir Starmer said the data showed his government was “delivering” and that there was “more to do”. For households, employers and universities watching immigration rules, the latest numbers point to a sharper slowdown in arrivals from outside the EU, especially for work.
ONS on the decline
Sarah Crofts, the ONS deputy director, said: “The recent decrease is driven by fewer people arriving from outside the EU, particularly for work.” That shift follows policy changes introduced in early 2024, when most overseas students were restricted from bringing family members and care workers were also restricted from bringing dependents.
The same policy period also saw the general salary threshold for skilled visas rise from £26,200 to £38,700, while the minimum income requirement to sponsor someone for a family visa increased by more than £10,000. Those changes, taken together, narrowed routes that had been used by employers, students and families.
Starmer and Mahmood respond
Starmer paired his comments with a broader argument about the government’s approach. He said, “I know there's more to do, we're introducing a skills-based migration system that rewards contribution and ends our reliance on cheap overseas workers.”
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood used the figures to argue for tighter control, saying they supported “restoring order and control to our borders”. The Home Office added on X: “We are ending Britain's reliance on overseas labour, ensuring migrants contribute more than they take and are increasing the removal of illegal migrants and foreign criminals.”
Asylum numbers remain high
The immigration slowdown sits alongside a separate pressure point: 93,525 people claimed asylum in the UK in the year to March 2026, down 12% on the year prior but still more than double the level seen just before the pandemic. In March 2026, 93,653 people were in asylum accommodation, including 20,885 in hotels.
That mix leaves ministers facing two different tests at once. Net migration has fallen sharply, but asylum accommodation remains large, and the political argument in Westminster now turns on whether the government can show the public that lower overall migration will be matched by control over the system’s most visible costs.
Chris Philp presses further
Chris Philp, the Shadow Home Secretary, said the figures should prompt the government to “go further”. The Conservative response reflects a split over whether the latest fall is enough or whether the rules introduced since early 2024 need to be tightened again.
The current government has already announced plans to require migrants to speak English to A-level standard and to raise the skilled worker visa income threshold again, to £41,700. Those proposals point to the next policy test for employers and applicants: whether the lower net migration rate becomes a temporary drop or the first stage of a stricter system that keeps pushing numbers down.
