29/11/2012

UK Net Migration Dips

Net migration levels to the UK have dropped, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The balance between the number of people who come to live in the UK for the long-term and the number who are leaving fell from 242,000 to 183,000 in the year to March.

The fall has been attributed to a drop in the number of foreign nationals studying in the UK.

This is the first fall since 2008-9.

Over that period, inward migration to the UK fell by 42,000 to 536,000. Non-EU nationals settling in the UK went from 317,000 to 296,000.

Home Office minister Mark Harper said: "Our tough policies are taking effect and this marks a significant step towards bringing net migration down from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands by the end of this Parliament.

"At the same time, we continue to attract the brightest and best: these figures show that there has been a small increase in the number of sponsored student visa applications for the university sector."

(GK/IT)

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