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Net migration to Britain hit 260,000 in the first six months of last year, a significant increase of 43 percent over the previous year.

The figures were released recently by the Office of National Statistics in Britain. The net long-term migration to Britain increased to 260,000 in the previous 12 months.

By the end of June last year, a total of 580,000 people had immigrated to Britain, increased from 500,000.

Meanwhile, more than 320,000 people emigrated from Britain in the same period, with British citizens accounting for just over 40 percent of the emigrants.

The Office of National Statistics also said that immigration for work increased significantly, while immigration for formal study remained stable.

The new figure was a heavy blow to the target of British Prime Minister David Cameron, who has said that net migration should be reduced below 100,000 by the general election in May 2015.

net migration n. 净移民数量 移民包括两种情况：本国公民移去国外，外国公民移入本国。换句话说，migration可看成总概念，含emigration和immigration。两者的差额即为净移民数量。理论上这既可以是净移入数量，也可以是净移出数量。由于原文的表达是net migration to Britain而非net migration from Britain，因此可以判定是净移入数量。

The Office of National Statistics n. 英国国家统计署，官方名字为The Office for National Statistics，在非官方场合也可把for说成of，不影响理解。缩写均为ONS。

immigrate vi. 移入某国，移居入境，有该行为的移民是immigrant

emigrate vi. 移出某国，移居国外，有该行为的移民是emigrant

immigration for work 因工作移居入境

immigration for formal study 因接受正规教育移居入境

blow n. 打击，后面一般跟to…，表示对…造成打击。如果程度很深，可在blow前面加heavy或huge。
例句：
You’d think that Steve Jobs’ passing away would be a heavy/huge blow to Apple, but apparently, the company did fine without him. （人们以为史蒂夫•乔布斯的过世会对苹果产生巨大的打击，但事实说明，没有他，公司的表现一样很好。）

general election n. 大选，普选