Bangladeshis form the eighth-largest migrant group from outside the European Union (EU) to choose the UK as a destination over the past year, statistics from the country’s Office of National Statistics (ONS) revealed today.

As many as 69,000 people born in Bangladesh moved to Britain between July 2016 and June 2017, close behind South Africa (75,000) and Australia (71,000). Among the top five non-EU countries that contributed to the UK’s migrant population during the same period were India (305,000), Pakistan (171,000), China (109,000), Nigeria (90,000) and the US (84,000).

Overall, the ONS data found that net migration to the UK had fallen by 106,000 to hit 230,000 during the one-year period, reflecting the first major decline since the EU referendum in favour of Brexit in June 2016.

"The decline follows historically high levels of immigration and it is too early to say whether this represents a long-term trend," said Nicola White, head of migration statistics at the ONS.

"These changes suggest that Brexit is likely to be a factor in people's decision to move to or from the UK – but decisions to migrate are complex and other factors are also going to be influencing the figures," she added.

The number of non-EU citizens leaving the UK has remained stable over the past year but the number of EU citizens leaving the UK has increased by almost a third, a trend that has been classified as “Brexodus” by a section of the UK media.

The figures show that the number of EU citizens leaving the UK rose by 29 percent to 123,000, with 43,000 saying they were returning home. This is the highest level of EU emigration from Britain since the 2008 recession.

Net migration is the difference between people coming to the UK for more than a year, and the number of people leaving the UK for a year or more. In the 12-month period of July 2016 and June 2017, 572,000 people arrived in the UK, and 342,000 emigrated. Immigration specifically fell by 80,000 people over the year – and three-quarters of that drop was down to fewer EU citizens coming to live in the UK.

The UK’s Conservative party government has pledged to reduce net annual migration to the "tens of thousands" and the latest figures were welcomed by ministers. Opposition Labour party said the figures showed it was time for the Tories to drop their “meaningless” target of reducing net migration below 100,000.