Net migration set to hit double pre-brexit level

NET UK migration could soar to twice the number seen before Brexit, immigration experts have said.

Net migration – the number entering the UK minus those leaving – could hit a record high of 675,000, double the pre-brexit peak of 331,000 eight years ago. This would surpass the previous high of 504,000 set in the year to June 2022.

The jump has been fuelled by a continued sharp increase in non-eu migrants that has more than cancelled out a fall in numbers of EU citizens resident in the UK since Brexit meant they had to apply for visas to remain.

The figures will pile pressure on the Government over its 2019 election manifesto pledge to bring migration down, a promise repeated by Rishi Sunak and Suella Braverman, his Home Secretary. She told the Tory conference her ambition was to reduce it to below 100,000.

It comes as the Government stands braced for savage criticism when its Illegal Migration Bill is debated for the first time in the House of Lords tomorrow. Ministers expect multiple amendments by peers seeking to water down or remove key parts of the Bill, which severely restricts people’s right to claim asylum in the UK.

Home Office data show the year-on-year number of work, study and other visas granted to non-eu citizens, excluding visitors, rose by 272,140 in the past six months, with almost 1.37 million total applications accepted in the year to December 2022.

In previous years, non-eu migrants have accounted for between 55 and 65 per cent of arrivals, which would suggest immigration will be up by between 150,000 and 175,000. However, experts believe the current peaks are temporary, fuelled by a surge in students to almost 500,000 a year and more than 180,000 humanitarian visas being issued to people from Ukraine, Afghanistan and Hong Kong.

♦ The rate at which illegal migrants are arriving in Britain has increased since the Government unveiled its plans to stop the boats. Statistics reveal that more asylum seekers have come to Britain in the two months since the legislation was announced than in the eight weeks prior.