UK migration over time
Annual UK long-term migration estimates from 1964 to 2025, including British nationals. The charts trace annual flows, cumulative immigration and net migration, and nationality groups.
Long-term migration means moving to or from the UK for at least 12 months. Net migration is immigration minus emigration, including British nationals.
Key findings
Net migration fell by 160,000 in 2025. The estimate was 171,000, down from 331,000 in 2024, following a 517,000 fall the year before.
The latest estimate is 720,000 below the current-method peak. Net migration reached 891,000 in 2022.
Published immigration estimates sum to 27,553,000 arrivals since 1964. Published net migration sums to 7,236,000 over the same years; neither total counts distinct residents.
Immigration, emigration and net migration
United Kingdom · calendar years, 1964–2025 · people per year
- Immigration
- Emigration
- Net migration
Each line shows the annual estimate for immigration, emigration or their published net balance.
Cumulative immigration and net migration since 1964
United Kingdom · published annual flows, 1964–2025
- Cumulative immigration (arrivals)
- Cumulative net migration
Each line adds the published annual immigration or net migration estimate from 1964 onward. They count flows across years, not distinct people living in the UK.
Net migration by nationality group
United Kingdom · calendar years, 2012–2025
- British
- EU+
- Non-EU+
Each line tracks the selected migration measure for British, EU+ or non-EU+ nationals. Negative net migration means more people left than arrived.
Change in net migration, 2024 to 2025
United Kingdom · change in annual flow
Each bar shows how the change in arrivals or departures contributes arithmetically to the change in net migration; the third bar is the published net change.
The data
Each annual observation estimates people moving to or from the UK for at least 12 months. It includes British nationals. Net migration is the published balance of arrivals and departures. The cumulative chart separately adds each year's published immigration and net estimate from 1964; arrivals can include repeat moves by the same person.
The historical chart workbook covers 1964–2011 here; the current ONS release supplies 2012–2025. Early estimates, the LTIM series from 1991 and the current release use different source periods. The 2001–2011 net series was revised separately from its immigration and emigration components, so the gap between the cumulative lines is not a published emigration total. ONS changed the estimation method in 2021, so movements across that boundary should be treated cautiously. Nationality groups also changed from EU to EU+.
Sources and limitations
ONS historical UK migration, Figure 4; ONS long-term migration: December 2025 edition (Tables 1 and 2). The latest annual estimate is provisional. Figures are rounded independently to the nearest thousand, so a net or contribution can differ slightly from its displayed parts. Published uncertainty intervals cover selected recent overall estimates and do not describe every source of error.