{
  "title": "Migration fell. Why is the debate still so heated?",
  "publication": "2026-11-01",
  "version": 2,
  "charts": [
    {
      "kind": "bars",
      "title": "ARRIVING.\nLEAVING.\nTHE DIFFERENCE.",
      "rows": [
        {
          "label": "Arrivals",
          "value": 813
        },
        {
          "label": "Departures",
          "value": 642
        },
        {
          "label": "Net migration",
          "value": 171
        }
      ],
      "unit": "k",
      "footer": "UK • year ending Dec 2025 • provisional ONS estimates.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "sha256": "a5387d131927f84e557a3e5cb6a483ecf1cb17caedb4ca29ea861f1b9f07a1e4",
          "url": "https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/longterminternationalmigrationprovisional/yearendingdecember2025",
          "note": ""
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "kind": "bars",
      "title": "NET MIGRATION\nFELL ABOUT 48%",
      "rows": [
        {
          "label": "2024 revised",
          "value": 331
        },
        {
          "label": "2025 provisional",
          "value": 171
        }
      ],
      "unit": "k",
      "footer": "UK • calendar years • net range for 2025: 145,000–197,000; not all uncertainty included.",
      "sources": [
        {
          "sha256": "a5387d131927f84e557a3e5cb6a483ecf1cb17caedb4ca29ea861f1b9f07a1e4",
          "url": "https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/longterminternationalmigrationprovisional/yearendingdecember2025",
          "note": ""
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "kind": "line",
      "title": "THIRTY YEARS.\nTWO WAYS OF COUNTING.",
      "series": [
        {
          "label": "Older survey series",
          "points": [
            {
              "x": 1996,
              "y": 55.0,
              "label": "1996"
            },
            {
              "x": 1997,
              "y": 48.0,
              "label": "1997"
            },
            {
              "x": 1998,
              "y": 140.0,
              "label": "1998"
            },
            {
              "x": 1999,
              "y": 163.0,
              "label": "1999"
            },
            {
              "x": 2000,
              "y": 158.0,
              "label": "2000"
            },
            {
              "x": 2001,
              "y": 179.0,
              "label": "2001"
            },
            {
              "x": 2002,
              "y": 172.0,
              "label": "2002"
            },
            {
              "x": 2003,
              "y": 185.0,
              "label": "2003"
            },
            {
              "x": 2004,
              "y": 268.0,
              "label": "2004"
            },
            {
              "x": 2005,
              "y": 267.0,
              "label": "2005"
            },
            {
              "x": 2006,
              "y": 265.0,
              "label": "2006"
            },
            {
              "x": 2007,
              "y": 273.0,
              "label": "2007"
            },
            {
              "x": 2008,
              "y": 229.0,
              "label": "2008"
            },
            {
              "x": 2009,
              "y": 229.0,
              "label": "2009"
            },
            {
              "x": 2010,
              "y": 256.0,
              "label": "2010"
            },
            {
              "x": 2011,
              "y": 205.0,
              "label": "2011"
            },
            {
              "x": 2012,
              "y": 177.0,
              "label": "2012"
            },
            {
              "x": 2013,
              "y": 209.0,
              "label": "2013"
            },
            {
              "x": 2014,
              "y": 313.0,
              "label": "2014"
            },
            {
              "x": 2015,
              "y": 332.0,
              "label": "2015"
            },
            {
              "x": 2016,
              "y": 249.0,
              "label": "2016"
            },
            {
              "x": 2017,
              "y": 285.0,
              "label": "2017"
            },
            {
              "x": 2018,
              "y": 260.0,
              "label": "2018"
            },
            {
              "x": 2019,
              "y": 313.0,
              "label": "2019"
            }
          ],
          "color": "#9C8BAF"
        },
        {
          "label": "Newer admin series",
          "points": [
            {
              "x": 2012,
              "y": 195.0,
              "label": "2012"
            },
            {
              "x": 2013,
              "y": 244.0,
              "label": "2013"
            },
            {
              "x": 2014,
              "y": 284.0,
              "label": "2014"
            },
            {
              "x": 2015,
              "y": 303.0,
              "label": "2015"
            },
            {
              "x": 2016,
              "y": 249.0,
              "label": "2016"
            },
            {
              "x": 2017,
              "y": 208.0,
              "label": "2017"
            },
            {
              "x": 2018,
              "y": 276.0,
              "label": "2018"
            },
            {
              "x": 2019,
              "y": 184.0,
              "label": "2019"
            },
            {
              "x": 2020,
              "y": 93.0,
              "label": "2020"
            },
            {
              "x": 2021,
              "y": 467.0,
              "label": "2021"
            },
            {
              "x": 2022,
              "y": 891.0,
              "label": "2022"
            },
            {
              "x": 2023,
              "y": 848.0,
              "label": "2023"
            },
            {
              "x": 2024,
              "y": 331.0,
              "label": "2024"
            },
            {
              "x": 2025,
              "y": 171.0,
              "label": "2025"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "unit": "k",
      "footer": "UK • observed 1996–2025 • overlapping methods, not one spliced history.",
      "breaks": [],
      "survey": true,
      "sources": [
        {
          "sha256": "a5387d131927f84e557a3e5cb6a483ecf1cb17caedb4ca29ea861f1b9f07a1e4",
          "url": "https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/longterminternationalmigrationprovisional/yearendingdecember2025",
          "note": ""
        },
        {
          "sha256": "1a11fe0489aab2557e5c22430b2245c1e68a1d49eafc9ba18dc6c42e419df459",
          "url": "https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/datasets/longterminternationalmigration200citizenshipuk",
          "note": ""
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "kind": "bars",
      "title": "WHAT PEOPLE\nSAY MATTERS",
      "rows": [
        {
          "label": "Immigration is important",
          "value": 61
        }
      ],
      "unit": "%",
      "footer": "ONS • GB adults • 5–30 Aug 2026 • n=3,560. Multiple issues could be selected.",
      "survey": true,
      "sources": [
        {
          "url": "https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/wellbeing/bulletins/publicopinionsandsocialtrendsgreatbritain/august2026",
          "retrieved": "2026-11-01",
          "sha256": "5f1f819636906f090c6e0dfc27f89a4f54de98ccbc9f94d3df9c5246a68b8079",
          "method": "ONS Opinions and Lifestyle Survey, Great Britain adults, 5–30 August 2026. 3,560 responses from 8,730 sampled adults (41% response). Multiple answers permitted. Employment selected as important: 31% August 2024, 42% August 2025, 54% August 2026. Not unemployment rates."
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "publishedCases": [
    {
      "label": "Dr Inna Soldatenko’s return to medicine — UNHCR, 2026",
      "url": "https://www.unhcr.org/news/stories/fleeing-kharkiv-caring-patients-uk-inna-s-story"
    }
  ],
  "interpretation": "Survey feelings, measured outcomes and individual published cases are distinct evidence. Connections are not quantified causal effects. Historical dates and methodological breaks are retained. Builder checks are not independent analytical assurance."
}