Accredited official statistics

Why do people come to the UK? (1) To visit

Updated 21 March 2018

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-october-to-december-2017/why-do-people-come-to-the-uk-1-to-visit

Back to ‘Immigration statistics October to December 2017’ content page.

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Data relate to 2017 and all comparisons are with 2016, unless indicated otherwise.

This section contains data on:

  • Visitor-related arrivals for non-EEA nationals
  • Visitor-related entry clearance visas

Visitor arrivals data are currently based on landing cards completed as people cross the border. See the Home Office response to media reporting on landing cards for more information. Visitor visa data relate to visas applied for and resolved outside the UK. More information on non-visitor arrival and visa data by category and nationality is included in ʻWhy do people come to the UK? (2) To work’, ʻWhy do people come to the UK? (3) To study’ and ʻWhy do people come to the UK? (4) For family reasons’.

We provide a more detailed commentary on an annual basis. This is included in ‘Immigration Statistics, April to June 2017’.

1. Key facts

In the year ending 30 June 2017, the number of non-EEA visitor arrivals increased by 2.0 million (21%) to 11.3 million compared to the previous year.

Many nationalities, including US nationals, do not normally require a visa to visit the UK. Consequently the number of Visitor visas granted is much lower than the total number of arrivals.

Over 2.7 million visas were granted in 2017 and, of these, 2.1 million (77%) were to visit.

There were 193,609 (10%) more Visitor visas granted in 2017. Of these, there were notable increases in Visitor visas granted to:

  • Chinese nationals, up 53,837 (11%) to 531,967 (excluding Hong Kong)
  • Indian nationals, up 43,816 (11%) to 433,852
  • Russian nationals, up 30,828 (31%) to 129,467

Chinese and Indian nationals alone accounted for just under half (46%) of all visit visas granted.

The image shows the number of Visitor visa applications and Visitor visas granted for the latest calendar year available. Totals for these data are available in Visas table vi 01 q.

Source:

Table vi 01 q (Entry clearance visas tables, volume 1).

2. Data tables

Data on passenger arrivals and visa, sourced from Home Office administrative systems, can be found in:

Visas tables volume 1
Visas tables volume 2
Visas tables volume 3
Admissions tables

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