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UK net migration falls to 244,000 Migration figures: Record numbers of EU nationals leaving UK
(about 1 hour later)
Net migration to the UK is estimated to have fallen by 29,000 to 244,000 in the year to last September, figures show. The number of EU citizens leaving the UK is at its highest level for a decade, figures from the Office for National Statistics show.
It is the second set of data from the Office for National Statistics since the UK voted to leave the EU in 2016. It estimates that 130,000 EU nationals emigrated in the year to September, the highest number since 2008.
The figure is still well short of the government's target to reduce net migration to below 100,000. Meanwhile, 220,000 EU nationals came to live in the UK - 47,000 fewer than the previous year.
Net migration is the difference between people coming to the UK for more than a year, and the number of people leaving the UK for a year or more. Net EU migration - the difference between arrivals and departures - was 90,000, the lowest for five years.
In the 12 months to September, 578,000 people arrived in the UK from all over the world, and 334,000 emigrated, the report showed. The figures also show that more British people are emigrating than are returning to live in the UK.
The estimated net migration to the UK from the EU alone was 90,000 in the same period. Of those EU nationals arriving in the UK, fewer were coming for "work-related reasons", in particular to "look for work".
During that time, 220,000 EU citizens came to the UK - 47,000 fewer than the previous year. Nicola White, head of international migration statistics at the ONS, said: "Brexit could well be a factor in people's decision to move to or from the UK, but people's decision to migrate is complicated and can be influenced by lots of different reasons."
Among them, fewer were coming for "work-related reasons", in particular to "look for work". 'Immigration mess'
Meanwhile, 130,000 EU citizens left the UK, the highest number since 2008. By contrast, immigration from countries outside the European Union is going up which means the UK population is continuing to grow at a similar level to early 2014.
It is the first time EU net migration has fallen below 100,000 since the 12 months ending March 2013. Some 285,000 non-EU citizens arrived in the UK in the 12-month period to September, and 80,000 departed.
'Brexit a factor' This gives a net increase of 205,000, the highest for six years.
The figures show that the UK population is continuing to grow at a similar level to early 2014, Nicola White, head of international migration statistics, said. Overall, net migration is estimated to have fallen by 29,000 to 244,000 in the same period.
"Looking at the underlying numbers we can see that EU net migration has fallen as fewer EU citizens are arriving, especially those coming to look for work in the UK, and the number leaving has risen," she said. This includes 73,000 British people coming back to the UK and 125,000 Britons leaving.
"Brexit could well be a factor in people's decision to move to or from the UK, but people's decision to migrate is complicated and can be influenced by lots of different reasons," she added. The overall net migration figure is still well short of the government's target to reduce net migration to below 100,000, a pledge made in the 2010, 2015 and 2017 Tory manifestos.
The figures also showed: Labour's shadow home secretary Diane Abbott said net migration was still double the government's target and accused the Home Office of turning away qualified doctors despite a recruitment shortage in the NHS.
The Conservatives' aim since 2010 has been to reduce net migration to the "tens of thousands". "This deficit hurts us all and highlights the immigration mess the government has created," she said.
The pledge has appeared in the 2010, 2015 and 2017 Tory manifestos. The ONS figures also show that in 2017, the UK granted asylum, alternative forms of protection or resettlement to almost 15,000 people, 40% of whom were under 18.
Neither Prime Minister Theresa May nor her predecessor, David Cameron, have come close to meeting that target.