Release: Migration Statistics Quarterly Report, November 2012

Latest provisional data show that there was a net flow of 183,000 migrants to the UK in the year ending March 2012, which is significantly lower than the net flow of 242,000 in the year ending March 2011.

536,000 people immigrated to the UK in the year ending March 2012, which is significantly lower than the 578,000 who migrated the previous year. It is the lowest immigration estimate since the year to June 2004 when 528,000 people migrated to the UK.

Provisional data show that 353,000 emigrants left the UK in the year ending March 2012. This is higher than the 336,000 who emigrated in the year to March 2011. The increase in emigration is mostly due to more people leaving for a definite job. 127,000 left the UK for a definite job in the year ending March 2012, compared to 108,000 the previous year.

There were significant decreases in the net flow of non-EU and British citizens in the year ending March 2012 from the previous year. There were net flows of 185,000 non-EU citizens and -77,000 British citizens, which are lower than the estimates of 215,000 and -50,000 the previous year.

There was a significant decrease in the numbers of people arriving to study. 213,000 migrants arrived to study in the year to March 2012; lower than 232,000 the previous year. Decreases have also been seen in the number arriving for work-related reasons at 177,000 in the year to March 2012 compared to 194,000 the previous year.

Excluding visitor and transit visas, the total number of visas issued fell 14 per cent to 508,488 in the year ending September 2012 (compared with 593,978 in the previous 12 months), to the lowest 12-monthly total recorded using comparable data available from 2005.

In the year to September 2012, there were 210,921 visas issued for the purpose of study (excluding student visitors), a fall of 26 per cent compared with the previous 12 months. 145,604 work-related visas were issued in the year to September 2012, a fall of 4 per cent  compared with the previous 12 months.

Final figures for 2011 show that annual net migration to the UK was 215,000. The decrease in inflow and the increase in outflow have resulted in lower net migration compared to 2010 when it was 252,000.