BBC News 25 May 2023
- New figures show UK net migration reached 606,000 in 2022
- It's a record figure for a full year - although slightly less than predicted
- Immigration was estimated at 1.2m, with emigration around 557,000
- Around 114,000 people came from Ukraine and about 52,000 from Hong Kong
- Separate data shows the backlog of asylum seekers waiting for a decision has risen to 172,758
- In their 2019 manifesto, the Conservatives promised migration would come down
- PM Rishi Sunak again says migration to the UK is too high - while Labour says the government has no plan, and no grip
For the first time, the official statistics have included the number of asylum seekers who have come to the UK in recent years, which means we can get an idea of the scale of the different types of migration.
The Office for National Statistics says 76,000 people applied for asylum in the UK in 2022, an increase from 53,000 in 2021.
That number doesn’t include everybody who arrived in small boats, but the Home Office estimates that about 90% of people who arrive that way go on to seek asylum.
To put that figure into context, asylum seekers made up about 8% of immigration into the UK from outside the EU.
AFGHANS THE BIGGEST SHARE OF 'SMALL BOAT' ARRIVALS, AS FLOW OF ALBANIANS STOP
Afghans made up almost a quarter of "small boat" arrivals to the UK in the first three months of the year, new figures show.
Data published by the Home Office has revealed there were 898 Afghans who crossed in small boats to the Kent coast, out of a total of 3,793.
The second biggest nationality in the figures was Indians - 670 made the crossing.
Iranians, Iraqis and Syrians were the next biggest nationalities.
But the flow of Albanians across the channel has almost stopped, according to the data. After more than 12,000 arrived in 2022, only 28 made the crossing between January and March this year.
