London, Indian citizens have emerged as the largest single national group among non-EU long-term immigrants both arriving in and departing from the United Kingdom, according to provisional Office for National Statistics data published on Thursday.
In the year to June 2025, an estimated 145,000 Indian nationals arrived on long-term visas, of whom 90,000 came for study, 46,000 for work and 9,000 for other purposes. Indians were followed by Chinese, Pakistani, Nigerian and Nepalese citizens in the non-EU rankings.
Outflows told a similar story: 74,000 Indian nationals left the UK over the same period, with 45,000 departing study-related visas, 22,000 work-related visas and 7,000 other categories.
The figures underscore India’s outsized role in Britain’s post-Brexit immigration system, even as overall net migration plunged by more than two-thirds to just 204,000, down from 649,000 in the year to June 2024. Total emigration rose to a provisional 693,000 from 650,000 a year earlier.
The sharp contraction reflects a series of policy measures introduced by the former Conservative government and continued under the current Labour administration. Most notably, restrictions introduced in early 2024 barred care workers and most international students from bringing dependants, leading to an 85 per cent drop in student dependants and a 65 per cent fall in worker dependants year on year. Higher salary thresholds for skilled-worker visas also took effect under Rishi Sunak’s administration.
Non-EU nationals continued to drive the bulk of remaining inflows, predominantly for work and study, though both categories recorded steep declines from 2023–24 peaks.
Emigration patterns have shifted markedly since 2022. Of those leaving in the latest year, 41 per cent were non-EU nationals, 36 per cent British citizens and 22 per cent EU citizens. Half of all departures were study-related, although work-related exits have risen steadily.
The Labour government has maintained the restrictive stance, recently overhauling asylum rules and launching a consultation on settlement policy. Separate Home Office data showed a modest increase in asylum applications over the period.
The dramatic reversal in net migration marks the steepest annual fall on record and brings the figure close to levels last seen before the pandemic and well below the Conservative party’s long-standing (if never achieved) target of below 100,000.
