Net migration from outside the European Union is at its highest in 14 years, with tens of thousands more people coming to work and study in Britain.
The figure was 76,000 higher than the previous year and driven largely by more students arriving from Asia, including China and India.
Campaigners for lower immigration described the net non-EU figure as “astonishing” because such migration is under the government’s control.
It is thought the figures could indicate that businesses are being forced to look overseas for skilled workers in response to the low unemployment rate in Britain and a fall in the number of workers coming from Europe.
Net migration from within the EU has fallen to 74,000, the lowest in six years, in what has been