Net migration to the UK was 171,000 in the year to December 2025: 813,000 people moved to the UK and 642,000 moved away
Long-term immigration, emigration and net migration, UK, 1964 to 2025. People a year.
Latest figures
| Series | Period | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Immigration | Year to December 2025 | 813,000 |
| Emigration | Year to December 2025 | 642,000 |
| Net migration | Year to December 2025 | 171,000 |
| Net migration, earlier method | 2019 | 313,000 |
Findings
Notes
- A long-term migrant is someone who changes the country they usually live in for at least 12 months. Net migration is immigration minus emigration.
- From 2012 the figures are the ONS's current estimates, made from administrative data (visa, tax and benefit records); each point covers the 12 months to the end of a quarter. The latest are provisional and are revised, sometimes by large amounts, as more records come in.
- The lighter green line is net migration by the ONS's earlier method, for calendar years from 1964 to 2019: mainly the International Passenger Survey, a sample of people arriving at and leaving the UK, with adjustments from 1991. It was discontinued after 2019. Where the two overlap, from 2012 to 2019, they differ by up to 129,000 a year, higher in some years and lower in others, so the lines are not joined.
- Net migration by the earlier method for 2001 to 2011 was revised after the 2011 Census.
- Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand.
Sources
- Office for National Statistics, Long-term international migration, provisional (Table 1)
- Office for National Statistics, Long-term international migration 2.00, citizenship, UK (discontinued after 2019)
More on population
- There were 585,396 live births in England and Wales in 2025, and the total fertility rate was 1.39 children per woman
- 33,374 people crossed the Channel to the UK in small boats in the year to June 2026
- 40,168 people in the UK were waiting for a first decision on their asylum claim at the end of June 2026, and 16,021 people seeking asylum were living in hotels
- Life expectancy at birth in the UK was 79.1 years for males and 83.0 years for females in 2022 to 2024
- Life satisfaction in the UK averaged 7.45 out of 10 in 2022-23; worthwhile 7.73, happiness 7.39 and anxiety 3.23