What was claimed
Immigration has fallen by 82% under the current Labour government.
Our verdict
Incorrect. The 82% figure represents the estimated decrease in net migration, not immigration, from its peak in March 2023, not since Labour took office. Figures for the year to December 2025 show a 37% fall in immigration since Labour took office.
“We've reduced immigration by 82% under this government”
In an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Wednesday, Labour party chair and Cabinet Office minister Anna Turley MP claimed that “we’ve reduced immigration by 82% under this government”.
This is not correct. The actual fall in immigration under Labour is much less, and if Ms Turley was citing the 82% figure which has been cited by the Prime Minister and home secretary recently, she was wrong for two reasons. That 82% figure represents the estimated decrease in net migration, not immigration, from its peak in March 2023, not since Labour took office.
The latest Office for National Statistics figures for the year ending December 2025 estimate that immigration (the number of people moving to the UK) has fallen by 45% from its peak of 1.47 million in the year ending March 2023. Since the year ending June 2024, the month before Labour took office, it’s fallen by approximately 37%.
Net migration (immigration minus emigration) has fallen by 82% from its peak of 944,000 in the year ending March 2023, and by 74% since the year ending June 2024.
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This isn’t the first time we’ve seen government ministers confusing immigration with net migration. We fact checked the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer last year after he made a similar error on several occasions. We’ve contacted Ms Turley for comment and will update this article if we receive a response.
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