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Net migration to UK rises to 333,000

Net migration to the UK has increased to the second highest level on record, official figures show.

The figure - the difference between the number of people arriving and leaving the UK - was estimated at 333,000 for the year ending December 2015, up 20,000 on the year before.

Net migration to the UK from the EU was estimated to be 184,000 in 2015, up from 174,000 in 2014.

The figures from the Office for National Statistics are the last to be released before next month's EU referendum.

In 2010, Prime Minister David Cameron promised to reduce the annual level of net migration to below 100,000 - but it is a pledge he has failed to meet.

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Farage: I don't believe official migration figures

Nigel Farage Credit: PA

Nigel Farage has said he doesn't believe the official migration figures and is sure the "real numbers are much higher".

The UKIP leader was responding to ONS figures showing the net long-term migration to the UK in 2015 was 333,000, the second highest level on record.

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