The number of Britons leaving the UK is far higher than previously thought according to official figures which also show net migration reached a new record high.
A total of 257,000 British nationals are now thought to have left the UK in 2024, compared with an initial estimate of 77,000.
Net migration was also 944,000 in the year ending March 2023, the Office for National Statistics announced, 38,000 more than estimated, as it reached a higher peak that previously thought and then fell faster in 2024 following the tightening of visa rules.
The new statistics come as the Labour home secretary Shabana Mahmood came under fire for unveiling a raft of controversial hardline measures on Monday designed to discourage asylum seekers and make it easier to remove those who have no right to remain in the country.
But there was good news for Ms Mahmood, as the figures also showed that in more recent years as net migration, the numbers coming to the UK minus those who leave, fell further than previously thought. In the year ending December 2024, the figure was 345,000, lower than the previous estimate of 431,000.
Earlier, a Labour peer accused Ms Mahmoodof using “children as a weapon” in her asylum system proposals.
Lord Alf Dubs, asked about arguments that asylum seekers are using their children to ‘thwart removal’, told the BBC’s Today programme: “I think that’s a theoretical statement – I just don’t accept that.”
He added: “To use children as a weapon, as the home secretary is doing, I think is a shabby thing – I’m lost for words, frankly, because my concern was that if we remove people who come here, what happens if they’ve had children in the meantime?
“What are we supposed to do with children who are born here, who’ve been to school here, who are part of our community, our society? We can’t just say, ‘oh well, out you go because your parents don’t claim to be here’.”
Net migration is the difference between the number of people moving long-term to the UK and the number leaving.
The ONS said the main reason for the change in the net migration figures is an improvement in how it calculates the migration of British nationals.
Estimates were previously based on the International Passenger Survey, but this had a very small sample size and had been “stretched beyond its original purpose”, so was no longer reliable, the ONS said.
The estimates are now produced using more robust and comprehensive data from the Department for Work and Pensions, which incorporates everyone with a National Insurance number and which can be used to determine the likely migration status of UK individuals.
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