Asylum statistics

This page is a short summary of the full PDF report Asylum statistics.

Asylum is protection given by a country to someone fleeing from persecution in their own country. An asylum seeker is someone who has applied for asylum and is awaiting a decision on whether they will be granted refugee status.

An asylum applicant who does not qualify for refugee status may still be granted leave to remain in the UK for humanitarian or other reasons. An asylum seeker whose application is refused at initial decision may appeal the decision through an appeal process and, if successful, may be granted leave to remain.

Asylum applications

In 2025, there were 82,100 applications for asylum in the UK, relating to 100,600 individuals (multiple people can be included in a single application). Both figures were slightly lower than in 2024, but were still the third‑highest annual totals on record.

The number of asylum applications peaked in 2002 at 84,100. It then fell sharply, reaching a twenty-year low point of 17,900 in 2010. From 2011 to 2020, annual numbers were relatively stable, averaging around 27,500 applications a year.

The number of asylum applications has been high by historical standards in each of the last four years, with the number of people included on applications reaching a record high of 104,800 in 2024.

The latest available data shows a slight decrease in the number of asylum applications to 76,700 in the year to March 2026, relating to 93,500 people.

Proportion of all migrants who are asylum seekers and refugees

In 2025, asylum seekers, refugees and people arriving on refugee family reunion visas made up around 16% of total immigration to the UK. If the Hong Kong British National (Overseas) scheme is included in the category of humanitarian routes, up to 17% of immigration to the UK in 2025 would be classed as humanitarian.

Decisions and refusals

Not all asylum applications are successful. In 2025, 42% of asylum applications were granted at initial decision (not counting withdrawals or ‘administrative outcomes’). The annual grant rate was lowest in 2004 (12%) and highest in recent times in 2022 (73%).

When an application is refused at initial decision, it may be appealed. From 2004 to 2021, around three-quarters (76%) of main applicants refused asylum at initial decision lodged an appeal and around a third (33%) of determined appeals were allowed.

Asylum caseload

As of March 2026, there were 35,700 asylum cases awaiting an initial decision. This figure peaked in June 2023 at 134,000, and has since fallen by 73%.

The latest available data on the total ‘work in progress’ asylum caseload, which includes cases awaiting an appeal outcome and unsuccessful applicants subject to removal from the UK, is for June 2024, when this stood at 224,700 cases. Of these, 39% of cases were awaiting an initial decision and 61% had received an initial refusal and were awaiting some kind of further action.

The total asylum caseload quadrupled in size between 2014 and 2024, driven both by applicants waiting longer for an initial decision and a growth in the number of people subject to removal action following a negative decision.

Small boats

The number of asylum seekers arriving in the UK after crossing the English Channel on small boats has increased in recent years, from being a route which was almost never used prior to 2018. From 2018 to March 2026, a total of 197,000 people were detected arriving in the UK on small boats. 95% of people detected arriving on small boats applied for asylum.

Overall, around a third (32%) of people who have claimed asylum in the UK since 2018 arrived by small boat. In the year ending March 2026, this figure was 42%.

Nationality of asylum seekers

In the year ending March 2026, the most common nationalities of people claiming asylum were Pakistani (10%), Eritrean (9%), Iranian (8%), Afghan (7%) and Bangladeshi (6%).

The diagram below is a stylised representation of the number of grants of asylum or other forms of international protection, by nationality, in each year from 1989 to 2025. The chart flows horizontally from left to right, with an individual ‘stream’ for each nationality. Not all nationalities are shown; only those with high numbers of grants. A full-size version of this chart is available to download in PDF format.

Resettlement schemes and nationality-specific routes

In addition to the asylum process, the UK operates various ‘safe and legal’ routes to the UK for some recognised refugees and other eligible individuals.

From 2021 to March 2026, around 38,600 people were resettled or relocated under the Afghan Resettlement Programme.

Since 2014, a further 31,100 people have been resettled through other schemes. Around 20,000 of these were Syrians resettled from 2014 to 2020.

In 2022, two new visa routes were introduced for Ukrainians. As of December 2025, around 234,000 people had arrived under these routes. This flow was much larger in scale than any other single forced migration flow to the UK in recent history. The number of Ukrainian refugees who arrived in the UK in 2022 equalled the total number of people granted protection in the UK from all origins from 2014 to 2021.

Until recently, close relatives of adults who had been granted refugee status or humanitarian protection in the UK could apply for visas to join them here, under the refugee family reunion route. From 2010 to March 2026, a total of 115,500 visas were granted through this route.

European context

In 2025, the UK was below the EU member state average for asylum applications per head of population:

• there were around 14 asylum applications for every 10,000 people living in the UK
• there were 18 asylum applications for every 10,000 people living across the 27 EU member states

On a list comprising the 27 EU member states and the UK, the UK ranked 12th on this measure.

Local area data

The only data available on the location of asylum seekers is for those who are receiving government support. This is available by region and local authority.

A full list of the number of supported asylum seekers by region and local authority (Excel file), alongside calculated rates per 10,000 population, is available to download as a supporting document to this briefing.

Further reading

The Commons Library briefing Statistics on small boat Channel crossings provides more detailed information about asylum claims made by people who arrive in the UK via this route.

Official statistics on the UK asylum system are published by the Home Office as part of its Immigration statistics quarterly release. Headline figures are summarised on the following pages:

• How many people claim asylum in the UK?
• How many people are granted asylum in the UK?
• How many people are in the UK asylum system?

Further operational and performance data is published in the Home Office’s Migration transparency data releases.

Statistics on asylum seekers and refugees in European Union countries are published by Eurostat and by the United Nations High Commissioner for refugees (UNHCR) in its annual Global Trends report.