Most do, with those who consider immigration a top issue about as likely to get the answer right as the wider public
Key takeaways
- 64% of Britons say they think they understand what net migration is very or fairly well
- 57% of Britons picked the correct definition when asked to choose, including 73% of those who say they understood what the term means
- The most common mistake is that net migration refers only to the number of people entering the country, which 19% thought was correct
- Those who say immigration is one of the most important issues facing the country are about equally likely to get the answer right as the wider public
Last week the ONS published new data which showed that net migration to the UK had fallen to 204,000 in the year to June. While people who follow politics frequently will doubtless be familiar with what the term “net migration” means, it should not be taken for granted that most of the public are, as previous YouGov research showed for inflation.
With immigration such a key part of the political debate in the UK currently – 55% of Britons say it is one of the top issues facing the nation – we ran a mini-survey to test whether the public are aware of what the term means.
If you ask Britons how well they know the term, 64% say they understand what net migration is well, including 19% who say they understand it “very well”. A further 19% say they don’t understand it very well, with 13% saying they don’t understand it well at all.
When we put that knowledge directly to the test, we find that the majority of Britons identified the correct definition of net migration from a set of four choices. Having stated that the rate of net migration to the UK was 204,000 in the year from June 2024 to June 2025, 57% of Britons correctly said that this means 204,000 more people came to the UK from abroad than left the UK to go abroad in that period.
The most frequent mistaken definition given by respondents is that this means 204,000 more people came to the UK from abroad in that period, at 19%.
Smaller numbers believed that this means the number of people coming to the UK was 204,000 higher than in the previous 12 month time period (8%), or that it was 204,000 lower than in the previous time period (3%). A further 12% admitted to not knowing at all which definition was correct.
Responses among Britons who say that immigration is one of the top issues facing the country closely matched those of the wider public: 64% said that they thought they understood what net migration is well, with 55% correctly giving the right definition.
Interested in taking YouGov surveys? What do you think about the level of immigration to the UK, whether immigration is a good or bad thing in general, and everything else? Have your say, join the YouGov panel, and get paid to share your thoughts. Sign up here.
Interested in commissioning YouGov research? We connect in real-time with real people around the world to gather their thoughts, behaviours, and opinions, to ensure that our research data is powered by reality. Explore our survey services here.
Photo: Getty
