IMMIGRATION FALLS BY A THIRD OVER THE PAST YEAR

ABOVE: The news will come as a boost to Home Secretary Theresa May

We have made substantial inroads in cutting immigration and now have a more selective system that works in our national interest.

Immigration Minister Mark Harpe

24th May 2013

By Ed Riley

IMMIGRATION has fallen by a third over the past year, new figures revealed yesterday.

Over 81,000 fewer foreigners arrived in the UK in the year to September 2012.

The net figure – the number of people entering the UK, minus those leaving – fell from 242,000 to 153,000, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Immigration Minister Mark Harper said the figures show the Government was finally getting to grips with the issue.

The total number of foreigners entering Britain fell from 581,000 to 500,000, while those leaving rose by 8,000.

Harper said: “Net migration is now at its lowest level for a decade showing we are continuing to bring immigration back under control.”

“We have made substantial inroads in cutting immigration and now have a more selective system that works in our national interest.”

Prime Minister David Cameron and Home Secretary Theresa May have vowed to reduce net migration from non-EU countries to less than 100,000 before the next election in 2015.

The ONS said some 105,000 immigrants from Commonwealth countries arrived in the UK in the year to September, down 36%, or 61,000 from 166,000 in the previous year.

A total of 58,000 immigrants arrived from countries which joined the EU in 2004, including Poland, the Czech Republic and Lithuania, down 22%, or 17,000.

But Sarah Mulley, from the Institute for Public Policy Research, said a decline in international student numbers came at “considerable economic cost to the UK.”