Net immigration to the UK rose to a record high of 606,000 in 2022, driven by rising numbers of people from outside the EU, including from Ukraine and Hong Kong.
The figures fell short of estimates of about 700,000 but remain far above the Conservative government’s 2010 pledge to reduce net immigration to the “tens of thousands”.
The Office for National Statistics said the drivers of high levels of migration had changed over the course of the year.
A smaller proportion of arrivals than before were students, and some students who had arrived to study in 2021 were now starting to leave, driving an increase in emigration.
The statistical agency also revised up its previous estimate of net immigration for the year ending in June 2022, which now also stands at 606,000.