Number of Britons leaving the UK significantly higher than previously thought

The number of Britons who left the UK last year is significantly higher than previously thought, revised figures show.

The number of British nationals who left the UK in the year ending December 2024 was 257,000, compared with the previous estimate of just 77,000.

The numbers have been revised after the Office for National Statistics (ONS) updated its methodology.

The estimated number of British nationals who returned to the UK has also been revised up for last year – the ONS now estimates that 143,000 immigrated, compared to 60,000 estimated under previous methods.

The new data also shows that the peak of net migration (the number of arrivals minus the number of departures) was higher than previously thought.

The ONS estimates that net migration hit 944,000 in the year ending March 2023, which is higher than the previously estimated peak of 906,000 in the year ending June 2023.

But in good news for the current government, those numbers have fallen further than previously thought – in the year ending December 2024, net migration was 345,000, which is lower than the previous estimate of 431,000.