The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the figure – those coming to live here long-term minus those emigrating – nearly halved from the previous year’s 331,000.
Net migration peaked at 944,000 in 2023.
Last year 813,000 migrants came to live here long-term, down from a peak of nearly 1.5 million in 2023, with 77% coming from outside the European Union.
Meanwhile, 642,000 people – of all nationalities – emigrated from Britain, including 246,000 British nationals.
But the ONS said fewer Brits are returning to the UK than are leaving, with a net loss of 136,000 people last year.
It included 75,000 young people aged 16 to 34.
The ONS said the gap in that age group “has grown every year since 2022”, adding: “This may suggest young Brits who move abroad for work are staying for longer periods, or that students who study overseas are then staying for work.”
Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith said it was an “exodus” of young people fleeing Labour’s high-tax Britain.
“Huge numbers of Brits are leaving and not coming back,” the MP said.
“We are in an exodus of our brightest and best young people and Labour are trading them for lower-wage migrants.
“These are the young people, our future, fleeing high taxes and low growth.
“It’s 75,000 more than came back. That’s one 747 a day leaving fully loaded with our young people.”
The ONS also said the number of people who came to Britain to claim asylum during the year was 88,000, up slightly on the previous year.
The figures therefore suggest about half of net migration – 49% – was made up of asylum seekers.
However, the ONS suggested a better measure was taking asylum as a proportion of total immigration from outside the EU, which put it at 14%.
Experts at Oxford University’s Migration Observatory said net migration’s growing proportion of asylum seekers indicated the type of immigration to Britain was becoming “less favourable”....<<<Read More>>>....
