Immigration

How is the UK managing migration and the asylum system?

Net migration has fallen sharply from its mid-2020s peak as work and study visa routes tightened. The asylum system, safe legal routes and the parties' competing targets remain central to the debate, touching housing, public services and the labour market.

What this means

The headline figure

171,000net migration to the UK, year ending December 2025 (provisional)ONS Long-Term International Migrationas of 31 Dec 2025Provisional; 813,000 arrived and 642,000 left. Down from a revised 331,000 a year earlier and a peak above 900,000.

ONS estimates net migration at 171,000 for the year to December 2025 — roughly half the previous year — driven mainly by a fall in work-related arrivals. Figures are provisional and revised at each release.

Party pledges

What parties promised — and delivered

In the news

What the media is saying about immigration

Go deeper

Related data

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Source: Parliament APIs · Electoral Commission · NHS England · Environment Agency · RSS news feeds
Licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 · Editorial (party assessments)