Around 37,000 Indians who had come for study reasons have now left the UK. Another 18,000 who were in the country for work reasons have also departed. Additionally, 3,000 people who were in UK for other unspecified reasons have also emigrated
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The UK’s tightening visa and immigration policies have led to significant changes in migration patterns of Indian nationals, latest statistics show.
According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) analysis for 2024, Indian nationals form the largest group of foreigners who have left the country (emigrated) over the past year.
Around 37,000 Indians who had come for study reasons have now left the UK. Another 18,000 who were in the country for work reasons have also departed. Additionally, 3,000 people who were in UK for other unspecified reasons have also emigrated.
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Following Indian nationals, Chinese students and workers accounted for 45,000 departures. Other notable nationalities in emigration statistics included
Nigerians (16,000), Pakistanis (12,000)
, and Americans (8,000).
This substantial number of people leaving the UK has contributed to the overall net migration in the country dropping to 431,000 last year— almost half of the total from the year before that.
Study-related emigration was the primary reason for the departure of the five most frequent non-EU nationalities, with the increase in long-term emigration driven mainly by the high numbers of Indian and Chinese nationals leaving in 2024.
Mary Gregory, Director of Population Statistics at the ONS, indicated that the fall in migration numbers is largely due to fewer people coming to the UK for work and study, particularly student dependents.
“There has also been an increase in emigration over the 12 months to December 2024, especially people leaving who originally came on study visas once pandemic travel restrictions to the UK were eased,” she said.
Political and government response
The UK government welcomed the drop in net migration, a topic that has been at the
forefront of the political agenda
amid soaring figures and gains by the far-right anti-immigration Reform party in recent elections.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer emphasised