Record 58,000 Indians left UK in 2024 due to tougher immigration rules

The number of Indians leaving the United Kingdom hit a new high last year, with 58,000 departures recorded in 2024, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Indian students and workers made up the largest share of non-EU nationals emigrating from the country.

 

At the same time, only 156,000 Indians moved to the UK during the year for work, study and other reasons, marking a sharp drop from the 277,000 recorded in 2023.

 

Indian students and workers lead UK emigration

 

According to the ONS, of the 58,000 Indians who left the UK in 2024:

 

 

< 37,000 originally came for study

< 18,000 came for work

< 3,000 had other reasons for migration

 

“Among people emigrating, Indian was the most common nationality,” reads the ONS analysis. It added that most of the emigration was among students, particularly Indians and Chinese nationals who had come to the UK on study-related visas.

 

“Study-related emigration was the most common reason for the five most frequent non-EU nationalities to emigrate in year-ending December 2024,” the report noted.

 

Chinese nationals followed closely behind Indians, with 45,000 departures. Nigerians (16,000), Pakistanis (12,000) and Americans (8,000) also featured among the top nationalities leaving the UK.

 

Mary Gregory, director of population statistics at the ONS, said, “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.”

 

Net migration to UK nearly halved

 

The UK’s net migration fell by nearly 50 per cent in 2024. Long-term immigration dropped to 948,000 from 1.33 million the previous year, while emigration rose to 517,000 from 466,000.

 

The result was a net migration figure of 431,000, down sharply from the year before. According to the ONS, this is the largest fall in net migration recorded in a single calendar year since the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

“This drop is because of the visa rule changes that I put in place,” said former home secretary James Cleverly, who served in the Conservative government under Rishi Sunak.

 

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer also commented on the figures on social media: “Today’s stats show we have nearly halved net migration in the last year. We're taking back control.”

 

New White Paper proposes sweeping visa restrictions

 

On May 12, 2025, the Labour government released an Immigration White Paper proposing sweeping changes across work, study and settlement categories. The key proposals include:

 

< Doubling the settlement period from five to ten years

< Extending English language requirements to more applicants, including dependants

< Reducing the Graduate Route visa post-study duration from two years to 18 months

< Raising salary thresholds for skilled worker visas

< Scrapping the Health and Care Worker visa for new applicants

 

The impact on Indian nationals could be considerable. In 2023, around 1,40,000 health and care worker visas were issued, of which Indians received approximately 39,000.

 

UK home secretary Yvette Cooper said, “These figures show a big increase in returns of failed asylum seekers and foreign national offenders, record levels of illegal working penalties, and the asylum backlog and hotel use coming down.”

 

Indian immigration and emigration UK from between 2021-2024

 

Emigration of Indians from the UK

 

2021: 17,000 (7,000 study-related, 9,000 work-related)

2022: 20,000 (12,000 study-related, 7,000 work-related)

2023: 40,000 (24,000 study-related, 15,000 work-related)

2024: 58,000 (37,000 study-related, 18,000 work-related)

 

Immigration of Indians to the UK

 

2021: 150,000 (77,000 study-related, 62,000 work-related)

2022: 267,000 (140,000 study-related, 116,000 work-related)

2023: 277,000 (136,000 study-related, 132,000 work-related)

2024: 156,000 (82,000 study-related, 68,000 work-related)

 

The full ONS report released on May 23, 2025, includes further breakdowns by visa category and duration of stay.