About this release
Updated 26 August 2021
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-statistics-year-ending-june-2021/about-this-release
The Home Office ‘Immigration statistics quarterly release’ series gives an overview of work on immigration control, entry clearance, asylum and enforcement within the Home Office, including the work of UK Border Force, Immigration Enforcement and UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI). It helps inform users such as the government, Parliament, the media and the wider public, and supports the development and monitoring of policy.
This release includes the latest statistics, up to the end of June 2021, on a range of topics including:
- how many people come or plan to come to the UK, and why (for work, study, family reasons, to visit)
- how many people extend their stay while in the UK (through extensions, settlement or citizenship)
- Asylum and resettlement (including asylum support)
- Detention under immigration powers
- Returns from the UK of those with no legal right to be in the UK
The ‘Immigration statistics’ release is a National Statistics output produced to the highest professional standards and free from political interference. It has been produced by statisticians in Migration Statistics within the Home Office in accordance with the Home Office’s ‘Statement of compliance with the code of practice for statistics’. The Head of Profession for Statistics reports to the National Statistician with respect to all professional statistical matters and oversees all Home Office National Statistics products with respect to the Code of Practice, being responsible for their timing, content and methodology.
The Home Office ‘Immigration statistics’ series forms part of a larger cross-Government Statistical Service ‘Migration statistics transformation plan’ to meet changing user needs, and which will put administrative data at the core of evidence on migration. Improvements to this release, which are part of this programme of work, can be found in ‘Developments in migration statistics’.
1. National Statistics
The UK Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics signifying compliance with the ‘Code of Practice for Statistics’.
Once statistics have been designated as National Statistics, it is a statutory requirement that the Code of Practice shall continue to be observed.
The statistics last underwent a full assessment against the Code of Practice in February 2012. The continued designation of these statistics as National Statistics was confirmed in September 2018 following a compliance check by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). The OSR report highlighted a number of strengths and made suggestions for improvements.
2. Changes to the release
2.1 Accessibility
We have further reviewed and updated our tables, in line with accessibility legislation, helping to ensure that they meet user needs.
2.2 Returns revisions
From November 2020, we revised the published timeseries on returns. The published data now show more voluntary returns and fewer enforced returns than previously published.
From November 2020, in addition to revising the published timeseries on returns, we have amended our revisions policy. Data on returns are now published a quarter behind to allow more time for returns (particularly ‘other verified returns’) to be entered on the system prior to publication, ensuring that the published data is an accurate representation of the number of returns. We will routinely revise the previous eight quarters of data as part of each quarterly release. Therefore, data for the most recent 8 quarters should be considered provisional.
Further details on the reasons for the revision can be found in the returns section of the user guide.
2.3 Deaths in detention
From November 2020, we made changes to the published data on deaths in detention, to reflect a more comprehensive definition. The data now include those who died after leaving detention, as a result of an incident that occurred while in detention. The data are included in table Det_05b in the Detention summary tables. See the user guide for more details.
2.4 The impact of COVID-19
On 11 March 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a global pandemic. A range of restrictions were implemented in many parts of the world, and the first UK lockdown measures were announced on 23 March 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on the UK immigration system, both in terms of restricting migrant movements to and from the UK and the impact on operational capacity.
Year ending comparisons that follow will include impacts resulting from the restrictions put in place during this period of the pandemic.
An additional one-off report, Statistics relating to COVID-19 and the immigration system, May 2020, was published on 28 May 2020, providing a statistical overview of COVID-19 impacts on the immigration system through to the end of April 2020. Statistics relating to passenger arrivals since the COVID-19 outbreak have been updated to included data up to 31 July 2021.
3. Future changes
3.1 Enforcement data review
The Home Office is reviewing the enforcement data that it publishes to ensure it provides a comprehensive overview of the enforcement system. The Home Office will launch a public consultation to enable users to inform future developments in enforcement statistics in due course.
4. Migration Statistics User Forum
The Migration Statistics User Forum has been established for discussion of international migration statistics, allowing users to discuss their need for and use of the data, and for producers to consult on presentation and provide information on proposed changes or improvements to the statistics. The forum is a user-led group with over 200 members and affiliated to the wider Statistics User Forum established by the Royal Statistical Society. The forum meets annually at its conference, usually held in autumn. Home Office Analysis and Insight uses this forum to communicate with migration statistics users, including providing information on new data and publications.
Details of the next annual conference, any other events and information relating to migration publications will be sent to members of the forum via its distribution list. The distribution list is available to join through the MIGRATION-STATS JISCmail list.
5. Other Home Office research and statistics
‘Developments in Migration Statistics’
In recent years Home Office statisticians have introduced a wide range of changes to the UK migration statistics. These include developments in the department’s national statistics suite of outputs, and a variety of other research and analysis using Home Office and other data sources.
‘EU Settlement Scheme Statistics’
Statistics relating to the EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS).
‘Statistics relating to passenger arrivals since the COVID-19 outbreak’
Statistical reports showing the impact of COVID-19 on the immigration system.
‘Migrant journey’ Formerly known as ‘Statistics on changes in migrants’ visas and leave status’, this release explores migrants’ journeys through the UK’s immigration system.
‘Migration research and analysis’ Research and statistics on migration to support Home Office policy development and operational activity.
‘Migration transparency data’
Performance data related to areas in the Home Office business plan, and data on borders and immigration activity, which has been regularly requested from the Home Office by the Home Affairs Select Committee.
‘Grenfell immigration policy statistics’ Following the Grenfell Tower fire on 14 June 2017, new immigration policies for survivors and relatives were introduced. This report provides official statistics on the survivors and relatives considered under these policies.
‘Home Office statistical work programme 2020 to 2021’
An outline of our organisational structure, our most significant outputs, recent developments and successes and details of our future improvement plans.
6. Other migration outputs
‘Migration Advisory Committee’ (MAC) is an independent, non-statutory, non-time limited, non-departmental public body that advises the government on migration issues. It publishes a range of reports on migration.
‘International migration – table of contents’, (ONS). Tool to locate the datasets for all ONS international migration outputs.
‘Statistics at DWP’ (DWP). Research and statistics on migration to support Home Office policy development and operational activity.
7. Further information and feedback
If you have any comments, or suggestions for the development of this report, please provide feedback by emailing MigrationStatsEnquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk. Please include the words ‘PUBLICATION FEEDBACK’ in the subject of your email.
Press enquiries should be made to:
Home Office Press Office
Peel Building
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
Tel: 0300 123 3535
The Home Office Responsible Statistician is Bex Newell. The Home Office Migration Statistics mission statement is:
We produce timely, accurate and objective statistics on immigration to support effective delivery of Home Office objectives and to inform government, Parliament and the public.