Population grows 685,000

Migration figures seen as a blow to Sunak in election run-up

- HOLLY BANCROFT, ARCHIE MITCHELL

The UK’s population grew by 685,000 people in 2023, a drop from record high net migration in 2022, official estimates show.

The latest figures, published a day after Rishi Sunak called a surprise general election on 4 July, will feed the debate about immigration – a key campaign battleground.

The Office for National Statistics said that it was too early to tell if the 10 per cent drop in net migration year-on-year was the start of a permanent trend, but pointed to signs that fewer people are applying to come to the UK on healthcare worker and student visas.

Net migration to the UK hit a record 764,000 in 2022. Despite the provisional 2023 figures representing a 10 per cent drop year-on-year, they are still historically high. The 2023 figures mark the third year running that overall net migration – the number of people coming into the UK minus the people leaving the country – has exceeded the pre-Brexit, pre-Covid levels of roughly 200,000 to 300,000.

Migration experts at the University of Oxford said that the small drop from 2022 was fuelled by lower immigration on humanitarian visas, such as Ukrainians and Hong Kongers, and fewer non-EU students.