Many people have celebrated the fact that the most recent long term, international migration figures (May 2026) show that net migration fell to 171,000 in the year ending December 2025. This is the second lowest figure since year ending December 2012 with only the year ending December 2020 being lower at 93,000. Some people think that is good news but there are other ways of looking at the figures that might show a different perspective.

Net migration of British nationals has been negative every year since 2012 i.e. more British nationals have emigrated than immigrated each year: 2,615,000 vs 1,395,000, a difference of -1,220,000.

Net migration of EU+ nationals has been negative every year since 2022: 580,000 vs 411,000, a difference of 169,000.
i.e. more EU+ nationals have emigrated than immigrated. In the period from year ending December 2012 to December 2026, net migration of EU+ nationals was 1,515,000.

Net migration of non-EU+ nationals has been positive every year since year ending December 2012: 6,675,000 vs 2,388,000 , a difference of 4,287,000 .

Net migration in total for years ending December 2012 to December 2025 was 4,751,000. Of this, 4,287,000 were non-EU+ nationals, 1,515,000 were EU+ nationals and -1,220,000 were British nationals i.e. more British nationals left the country than arrived.

Net migration in the year ending December 2025 was 171,000. Of this, 349,000 more non-EU+ nationals entered the country than left, 136,000 more British nationals left the country than entered and 42,000 more EU+ nationals left the country than entered.

In summary, as a result of migration:
– at year ending December 2025, there were 4,751,000 more people in the country than there were at year ending December 2012.
– at year ending December 2025, there were 4,287,000 more non-EU+ nationals in the country than there were at year ending December 2012.
– at year ending December 2025, there were 1,220,000 fewer British nationals in the country than there were at year ending December 2012.
– at year ending December 2025, there were 1,515,000 more EU+ nationals in the country than there were at year ending December 2012.

So the official, headline, international net migration figure shows how many more people entered the country than left in the relevant period but it make obvious the fact that more British nationals are leaving than arriving, which is the same in recent years for EU+ nationals and that the vast majority of people entering the ciountry were not British nor EU+ nationals,

Statistics taken from ONS publications.
Most recent figures are subject to amendment.
In ONS statistics, the EU+ category includes nationals from all EU countries and those from Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Switzerland.

Long-term international immigration, emigration and net migration flows, provisional
21 May 2026
https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/datasets/longterminternationalimmigrationemigrationandnetmigrationflowsprovisiona