Net migration to the UK dropped by two-thirds in the year ending June 2025, with provisional data showing a fall from 649,000 to 204,000.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the decline was largely driven by fewer arrivals for work and study.
Also, Home Office figures reveal asylum claims reached a record high of 110,051 in the year to September 2025.
The number of asylum seekers housed in hotels also rose by 2% compared with the previous year.
Thursday’s statistics were released in two parts: ONS figures on net migration to June 2025 and Home Office data on the immigration system to September 2025.
According to the Home Office, initial asylum decisions hit 133,502 over the year, with 45% approved. It said decision-making had reached historically high levels, noting a 36% drop in the backlog of initial decisions since September 2024, despite the surge in applications. However, the backlog of appeals has been rising.
The government has pledged to end the use of asylum hotels by the end of this parliament. More than 36,000 asylum seekers were living in hotels in September up 13% on the previous quarter but only 2% higher than a year earlier and significantly below the peak of 56,018 in September 2023.
Ongoing legal disputes continue, including Epping Forest District Council’s planned appeal after losing a court case to close a hotel housing asylum seekers.
A Home Office spokesperson said fewer than 200 hotels remain in use and reiterated the government’s commitment to closing all of them. They also expressed anger at “levels of illegal migrants”, adding that work is under way to move people into military bases.
Small boat arrivals increased by 53% over the year, with 45,659 people crossing the Channel—close to the 2022 peak. The average number of people per boat also rose. Among arrivals were 5,151 children, including 2,700 who were accompanied.
Separately, 153 migrants have been removed to France under the pilot “one in, one out” scheme, while 134 have been transferred to the UK through the same arrangement.
The ONS figures include all long-term migrants, those who change residence for at least a year—arriving by both regular and irregular routes. Alongside the overall drop in net migration, the data shows a 70% decline in arrivals of non-EU+ nationals on work and study dependent visas.
Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood said the government would go further to reduce pressures on communities.
She noted that net migration is now at its lowest level in five years and has fallen by more than two-thirds under the current government. She highlighted recent reforms designed to ensure migrants contribute and put in more than they take out.
Earlier this month, Mahmood proposed further changes to the legal migration system, including adjustments to the route to settled status, and announced new measures on illegal migration such as changes to how Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights is applied in court.
Migration experts say the latest net migration figures may partly reflect Conservative policies, including the June 2024 increase in the salary threshold.
