Net migration to the UK fell by nearly 50% to 171,000 last year, according to official figures released on Thursday, in what will be seen as a boost for Keir Starmer’s government.

Data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the difference between the number of people moving to the UK and the number of people leaving was at its lowest level since 2021.

The figure was down 48% year on year from 331,000 in 2024, extending a sharp decline from a record peak of 944,000 in 2023.

Separate Home Office statistics showed that the number of asylum seekers housed in so-called asylum hotels had also dropped, with a 35% year-on-year fall to 20,885 at the end of March.

Ministers have promised to drive down the number of people moving to the UK and end the use of the hotels by the end of this parliament. Migration has become a key political battleground against the rise of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.

The number of nationals from outside the EU arriving for work-related reasons fell by 47% in 2025, which was the main cause of the continued fall in net migration. Over the same period, overall emigration fell slightly.

There has also been an 87% drop in the number of family members of international students granted permission to enter the UK since 2023. Restrictions on both routes were introduced by Rishi Sunak’s government and then tightened further by Labour’s former and current home secretaries, Yvette Cooper and Shabana Mahmood.

The number of people claiming asylum fell by 12% in the year ending 31 March, to 94,000, Home Office data showed, but remained high compared with previous years. Grant rates for initial asylum claims continued to fall, from 49% in the year to March 2025 to 39% in the year to March 2026.

The data also showed that the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels fell by 9,800 in the first three months of 2026. This was primarily due to a reduction in the backlog of initial asylum applications.

Ben Brindle, a researcher at the University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory, said: “Migration is down now, but the economic impacts depend more on who is – or is no longer – migrating than how many.

“Today’s data illustrate a challenge the government faces, namely that the categories of migration it would most like to reduce are the ones least amenable to policy. As a result, migration of groups that make positive or broadly neutral economic impacts – such as skilled workers and partners of students – is down, while asylum-related migration remains high.”

An estimated 813,000 people immigrated to the UK, while 642,000 emigrated. The continued fall in net migration was being driven by fewer people from outside the EU arriving in the UK for work, the ONS said.

Refugee charities have warned that the number of people being allowed to enter the UK by safe and legal routes has halved to 3,600.

Jon Featonby, the chief policy analyst at the Refugee Council, said: “The sharp decline in resettlement figures paints a worrying picture. While Channel crossings have fallen for now, families fleeing war and persecution have almost no safe and legal way to reach the UK, increasing the risk that they will be driven towards dangerous journeys out of desperation to find safety and reunite with loved ones.”

Many people mistakenly believe net migration is rising in Britain despite figures dropping to their lowest level in years, a thinktank has found. Research from British Future, published ahead of the latest government figures on migration, revealed a chasm between reality and public perception of net migration, with a substantial portion of the public believing it had increased.

Reacting to the figures, Starmer said they showed his government was delivering on his promise to “restore control to our borders”.

Mahmood said there was “still work to do”, adding: “That is why I am introducing a skills-based migration system that rewards contribution and ends Britain’s reliance on cheap overseas workers.”

The shadow home secretary, Chris Philp, urged the government to go further. “Brits are leaving on a massive scale and non-EU immigration remains far too high,” he said.