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The figures showed the government remains a long way from meeting its “objective” to cut overall net migration to the tens of thousands, but the continuing downward trend will concern business leaders and employers, who have claimed the drop in immigration is costing the economy billions of pounds a year.
Overall, the data showed that about 280,000 more people came to the UK than left in 2017.
While net migration continues to add to the UK population, the figure is down from record highs recorded in 2015 and early 2016.
There has been a gradual increase in emigration since 2015 to approximately 350,000. Immigration has stayed stable at about 630,000, the report showed. Net migration from countries outside the EU rose to 227,000, the highest level since September 2010. [...]