Net migration to Britain in 2022 was at a record high, with 745,000 more people arriving than leaving, according to revised figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

However, for the year to June 2023, the number is estimated to be lower, at 672,000.

Jay Lindop from the ONS  said it is too early to tell if this is the start of a new downward trend but that the most recent estimates indicate a slowing of immigration coupled with increasing emigration.

READ MORE: Lee Anderson calls for asylum seekers to be sent to Orkney

He added: “More recently, we’re not only seeing more students arrive, but we can also see they’re staying for longer. More dependants of people with work and study visas have arrived too, and immigration is now being driven by non-EU arrivals.

“The latest numbers are higher than 12 months ago but are down slightly on our updated figures for year ending December 2022. It is too early to say if this is the start of a new downward trend.”

The figures sparked anger from some Conservative MPs, who believe ministers aren't doing enough.

The right-wing New Conservative group of MPs said the consequences of failing to tackle immigration could be catastrophic for the government.

“The word ‘existential’ has been used a lot in recent days but this really is ‘do or die’ for our party," they said.

“Each of us made a promise to the electorate. We don’t believe that such promises can be ignored.

“The Government must propose, today, a comprehensive package of measures to meet the manifesto promise by the time of the next election. We will assess any such package and report publicly on whether it will meet the promise made to the electorate.

“The Prime Minister, Chancellor, and new Home Secretary must show that they stand by the promises on which we were elected to Parliament. We must act now.”

Jonathan Gullis, the Tory MP for Stoke-on-Trent, said: “The figures from the [ONS], as well as the appalling high figures we’ve had over the last couple of years, prove that tinkering is no longer an option and it’s time for bold and radical ideas to demonstrate that we can control our borders on legal migration as much as we want to show we can on illegal migration."

Tom Hunt, Tory MP for Ipswich, added: “The public care about both legal migration and illegal migration.

"The vast majority of the public think the current levels of net migration are far too high. It’s critical that we respond to this and outline a strategy to get net legal migration down to sustainable levels the majority of the country would feel comfortable with.”

Home Secretary James Cleverly said the latest figure “is largely in line with our own immigration statistics” and insisted the Government “remains completely committed to reducing levels of legal migration”.

The previous estimate for the year to December 2022 had been 606,000, but the ONS has since revised this upwards in light of “unexpected patterns” in the behaviour of migrants.

The latest figures show that a total of 1.18 million people are estimated to have arrived in the UK in the year to June 2023 while 508,000 are likely to have left, leaving the net migration figure at 672,000.

READ MORE: James Cleverly denies calling Labour MP's constituency as a 'sh*thole'

Mr Cleverly said: “This figure is not showing a significant increase from last year’s figures and is largely in line with our own immigration statistics.

“The Government remains completely committed to reducing levels of legal migration while at the same time focusing relentlessly on our priority of stopping the boats.”

He said the UK needs to “reduce our overall numbers by eliminating the abuse and exploitation of our visa system by both companies and individuals”.

Labour's Shadow Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said: “These figures are driven by a 54% increase in work visas and a 156% increase in health and social care visas which prove the Conservatives’ abysmal record on skills, training and workforce planning, as they have run our economy into the ground.

“They are still failing to make changes Labour has called for to end the 20% wage discount in the immigration system and to link it to training requirements.

“The Tories have broken the asylum system with the number of asylum seekers in hotels now at a record high of 56,000 – over 10,000 more than when Rishi Sunak promised to end hotel use – and costing almost £3 billion a year. Once again, the British taxpayer is footing the bill for the Conservatives’ chaos.”