More than 130,000 Londoners packed up and quit the bustling city for a quieter life in smaller towns, seaside resorts, and countryside retreats.<\/p>\n
New internal migration figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that every major city in England and Wales lost more residents to other parts of the UK than it gained last year.<\/p>\n
London is leading this city exodus, likely driven by soaring housing costs and flexible working. In 2025, around 420,000 people left London to live elsewhere in the UK, 132,000 more than the 289,000 who settled in the capital.<\/p>\n
Greater London was one of only two regions that lost more residents than they gained, together with the West Midlands.While nearly every borough of London saw more people move out than move in, Newham lost more residents than anywhere else in the capital.<\/p>\n
While almost 34,000 people moved to Newham, almost 50,000 moved out, a net loss of more than 16,000 residents. Brent saw its population decline by more than 9,000 people due to leavers, and Redbridge saw a net loss of nearly 8,300. Only two London boroughs saw a population boost from internal migration: Havering and Bromley.<\/p>\n
While more than 19,000 people moved out of Havering, 21,000 moved in, a net gain of 1,700 people. Bromley saw a net gain of 583 new residents.<\/p>\n
Use our interactive map below to see how many people moved in and out of your local area last year, as well as the most common destinations.<\/p>\n
The data counts people who decided to relocate from one part of England and Wales to another, and does not include figures for immigration from abroad, but it does include people who moved to Scotland or Northern Ireland.<\/p>\n
Outside London, a similar exodus was recorded in the nation\u2019s other major urban hubs, including Birmingham, Manchester, Nottingham, Leeds, Leicester, Coventry, Bristol, Newcastle, and Sheffield.<\/p>\n
In total, around 4.0 million people relocated from one part of England and Wales to another during 2025. The figures align with recent trends and suggest that cities in England are losing their appeal, possibly due to higher rents and housing costs.<\/p>\n
The rise in opportunities for flexible work-from-home may also have contributed by enabling people to move out of cities and urban hubs. Conversely, rural, coastal, and shire areas saw a surge in new arrivals.<\/p>\n
North Yorkshire witnessed the highest net influx of any single local authority. Around 26,000 people moved out, but 34,000 moved in – a net gain of more than 7,500 residents.<\/p>\n
East Riding of Yorkshire, Cornwall, Cheshire East, Northumberland, and Somerset all also saw large net population gains.Just over 177,000 more women than men switched locations last year, and young adults aged between 18 and 30 were the most mobile demographic.<\/p>\n
More 19-year-olds (187,500) moved than any other single-year age group, probably heading away to university, followed by 22-year-olds (174,200), the age when many finish studying and either return home or move to other parts of the country in search of job opportunities.<\/p>\n