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    UK net migration fell to 431,000 in 2024, down almost 50% from 2023
    United Kingdom

    UK net migration fell to 431,000 in 2024, down almost 50% from 2023

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    32 Comments

    1. Jensablefur on

      There’d be Union flags on every paper with photos of a grinning Boris Johnson/Liz Truss/Rishi Sunak (delete as appropriate) doing a thumbs up outside number 10 if this was a headline a few years ago.

      Oh dear, the Wrong Team are in power though. Let’s see how the usual suspects spin this into a loss.

    2. Useful_Resolution888 on

      Looking forward to reform voters coming along and chipping in with “it’s not enough until it’s a net negative million”. At least they’ve got a plan to make Britain so unpleasant that everyone wants to leave.

    4. mm339 on

      Just getting my popcorn ready for when people inevitably say ‘it’s not down enough!’.

      Nearly 50% drop is significant however you look at it. The Tories and Labour will both claim victory, but it doesn’t matter, down is down.

      Devil’s in the details, but interested to see old Nige’s retort to this as migration is pretty much all he has.

    5. LostHumanFishPerson on

      It’s going to be four years of Starmer actually delivering on right wingers pet issues whilst continually being called a twat and not gaining a single voter.

    6. HazKaz on

      It’s interesting that Labour might actually be the ones to hit net migration in the tens of thousands.

      But aren’t these the result of Rishi’s policies ?

    8. Express-Doughnut-562 on

      This is likely the result of Tory policy, but given the number of traps they laid on the way out I’ll let Labour claim it.

      Wonder if Labour are aiming for an election year where we see neutral net migration as those who arrived in the Boris wave leave in great enough numbers to cancel out new arrivals – it’s not a totally unrealistic target even if ambitious and logically would totally take the wind out of Nige’s sails.

      Obviously the reality doesn’t matter and the media will find a way to spin it.

    9. caughtatfirstslip on

      In what world is bring 950k people into your country IN ONE YEAR a logical or sane thing to do? This is completely bonkers.

    10. Appropriate_Car_3711 on

      431,000 is still very high considering there is current a massive shortage of housing and public services are struggling.

      Why do people act like migrants are automatically absorbed into some kind of machine and it starts again every year?

      If your flat bench press is 100kg but somebody adds an extra 70kg and you struggle, so they take off 30kg and leave the 140 – you still can’t press shit. – there’s no time to get stronger.

      Also, for fuck sake stop making this a Tory/Labour thing. It’s been an ongoing thing for over 20 years, with both parties guilty

    11. Mail-Malone on

      It’s a bit like inflation, when inflation falls things don’t get cheaper they just keep rising in price at a slower place. This is exactly same, our population is still growing but just at a slower pace.

    12. Rincewind1897 on

      Well du’h.

      That was literally the plan.

      Replacement of the retirees and damage from Brexit.

      It isn’t difficult to work out how this works.

      It’ll have to go back up again in a few years as the number of people leaving the workforce skyrockets again. And the inheritance from the boomers causes younger people to leave as well as the traditional retiring population.

    13. Yesyesnaaooo on

      Popped over to see how the Mail Online were covering this news: not a single mention anywhere that I could see.

    14. Nohopeinrome on

      I genuinely get the feeling labour have finally got the message and are listening to the electorate. I can’t remember the last time a political party actually carried out the will of the people. I hope it lasts and people take notice in the next election.

    16. coldbeers on

      Funny how Labour get the credit when something good happens but blame the previous government for anything bad.

      However, this is for the whole of 2024, the Tories were in government for half that time and I don’t recall many new Labour policies around migration that were in effect for much of that year.

      So in this case I think most of the credit is due to the Tories.

    17. Wrong-Half-6628 on

      Important for people to realise that this decrease is largely because of the measures brought in by the Tory party, not by Labour. However the Tories are responsible for the horrific levels of immigration over the last decade, so there we go.

      Hopefully Keir can continue this trend and put in place a sensible immigration policy, where we provide visas for critical areas of industry alone.

    18. momentofcontent on

      Very interesting reading the “but, but, but” comments in this thread already. I wonder what the prevailing talking point will become in the next few days… Reform will obviously need their line of attack regardless of what happens.

      They can’t argue with the facts though. It has come down massively, and new policies were announced recently to drive it down even more. It will probably be super low by the time the next election comes round. Think they’ll reveal their colours and start talking about mass deportation instead?

    19. SurlyPoe on

      Oh look who is actually bringing down net migration. A political Party that does not need a scape goat to distract the public from their real policies.

      Will the UK press let the public know as net migration falls under Labor? What do you think?

      No, I am pretty sure that Murdoch with continue to lie until the scum that take Russian money and run around the country shouting “FISH!” and “Small Boats” and actually need as big an immigration problem as possible to keep them in the headlines, get control of the UK and finish stealing anything that might still be worth weighing in.

    22. ProfessorMiserable76 on

      This, along with Labour’s announced changes, makes me think they will hit their immigration targets.

      That won’t please Reform voters, still, I imagine.

    23. Atnt48 on

      My house price 📈

      My slop/just eat/deliveroo order price 📉

      Thanks everyone 🙂 

    24. bvimo on

      There’s about 130,000 vacancies in the care sector. Whose going to do these jobs? Thanks Starmer for failing to care for our elderly1

    25. Minute_Hernia on

      I bet not many of them 517,000 are scrounging economic migrants that came here to live off the British tax payer.

    26. Aggressive-Bed597 on

      To play devil’s advocate, what makes up the 400k drop? If it’s 400k wealthy individuals, then it’s a bit of a disaster for the economy. If it’s 400k potential deliveroo drivers, then it’s a huge win.

    27. belterblaster on

      A reminder that net migration includes people going out so this is “migration to the UK went from 1.1 million to 900K in a year”

      It’s the right direction but it’s off by a scale of 5. We need at least 200K more people leaving per year than coming in for the next 5 years to see any benefit

    28. Ready-Nobody-1903 on

      This needs more publicity, labour are doing a decent job with this so far, and decent is the best adjective that has been used to describe the government in decades.

    30. ManOnNoMission on

      I’m not surprised Jenrick is unhappy with it. He probably prefer 140 million, the same amount he tried to cost the country while housing minister before parliament stepped in.

    31. Quirky_Chip7276 on

      There was another thread on this topic and you had the Reform knuckle-draggers talking about how this number is still way too high, would be a record high if not for 2020-2023, and that they won’t be happy until it’s down to at least 2019 levels; which is a little odd given they voted to drag us out of the EU in 2016 on the very same issue.

      Couldn’t possibly be right-wing voters moving the goalposts, surely

    32. Thomo251 on

      The coping mechanisms and narrative spins we are about to witness from people with certain political leanings, that are unable to admit when “the other side” make positive change, is going to be huge.

      Prepare for a wave of propaganda to overshadow this.