Net migration to UK hit record 745,000 in 2022, revised figures show

Office for National Statistics raises previous figure by 140,000 and gives estimate for year to June of 672,000

Net migration boosted the UK population by a record 745,000 in the year to December 2022, fuelled in part by a surge in overseas professionals arriving to work in the NHS and care homes and prompting a furious response from rightwing Conservatives.

Amid signs No 10 might consider tightening guidelines on what has become a totemic issue for some Tory MPs, one group of backbenchers said a failure to deliver on the manifesto pledge to reduce net migration could prove existential" for the party.