The increase was driven by non-EU workers, refugees and international students, as well as visa schemes for Ukraine and Hong Kong.

The British government has pledged to bring migration numbers down, with new reforms announced earlier this week to remove the right for some international students to bring family members into the country.

High levels of migration have long been a topic of political debate in the UK, with concern about migration being a major factor in the country's 2016 referendum vote to leave the EU.

The data showed overall immigration in 2022 at around 1.16 million, offset by emigration of 557,000.

The ONS estimated that under the special visa schemes there were 114,000 long-term arrivals from Ukraine and 52,000 from Hong Kong.