New official figures show net migration to the UK drops by nearly half to 171,000 in the 12 months ending December 2025, down from 331,000 in the previous year. Multiple outlets report the fall is driven by a significant reduction in the number of people coming to the UK for work.
The Financial Times and other reports link the decline to tighter government policies affecting work visas. The reports describe successive changes in restrictions applied to people applying to enter for employment over recent years, which they say contribute to fewer arrivals and therefore lower net migration.
All sources cite the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as the source of the migration figures. They also note that the 171,000 level is the lowest since 2021, based on the reported time series. While the coverage highlights the role of work-visa policy changes, the statistics themselves focus on the overall net migration figure—arrivals minus departures—falling markedly over the year to end-December 2025.
