Accredited official statistics

Summary of latest statistics

Updated 23 September 2022

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1. How many people come to the UK each year (including visitors)?

There were an estimated 69.5 million passenger arrivals from outside the Common Travel Area (CTA) in the year ending June 2022 (including returning UK residents). This was more than three times (+253%) as many as in the year ending June 2021 (19.7 million), when travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic were still in place. However, this was only around half of all arrivals in 2019 (146.3 million), the period immediately before the COVID-19 outbreak.

There were 2,082,321 visas granted in the year ending June 2022, 34% fewer (-1,089,408) than calendar year 2019, which was primarily due to 1.5 million fewer grants of Visitor visas, although the total number of grants continued to increase in the aftermath of the global pandemic. Of the visas granted in the latest 12 months, 45% were to visit, 24% were to study, 16% were to work, 2% were for family reasons, and 14% for other reasons (including grants of leave on the Ukraine Schemes and BN(O) route).

There were 18,100 applications for the BN(O) route in Q2 of 2022, with 17,406 out of country applications, and 700 in country applications. Of the total, 10,600 applications relate to main applicants and 7,500 relate to dependants. There have been a total of 140,500 applications for the BN(O) route since its introduction on 31st January 2021 up to the end of June 2022.

For further details see ʻHow many people come to the UK each year (including visitors)?’.

2. Statistics on Ukrainians in the UK

By 30 June 2022 a total of 151,482 applications received across both Ukraine Visa Schemes, of which 133,854 had been granted. The Ukraine Family Scheme had 47,378 applications by 31 March. Of these, 43,325 applications had been granted. The Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme had 104,104 applications and 90,529 grants. There were also 14,098 extensions granted, 6,436 under the Ukraine Family Scheme and 7,662 under the Ukraine Extension Scheme.

For further details see ʻStatistics on Ukrainians in the UK’.

3. Why do people come to the UK?

3.1 Work

There were 331,233 work-related visas granted in the year ending June 2022 (including dependants). This was a 72% increase compared with 2019.

‘Worker’ visas (previously known as ‘skilled work’) accounted for two-thirds (67%) of all work-related visas granted with 216,450 grants. This is almost double (+96%) when compared to equivalent routes in 2019, with the growth driven by the introduction of the ‘Skilled Worker’ visa in 2020. Grants from ‘Temporary Worker’ routes have also increased by 67% to 72,526, following an increase in the number of visas available through the ‘Seasonal Worker’ route, from 2,500 in 2019 to 40,000 in 2022.

There were 87,266 grants of Skilled Worker visas and 96,249 grants of Skilled Worker - Health & Care - visas. Grants for these visas have grown every quarter since they were first introduced in December 2020, and now together represent over half (55%) of all work visas granted.

All work visa categories saw an overall increase compared to 2019. This is the highest number of work visas issued in any 12-month period since the data series began in 2005.

These increases can be partly attributed to the requirement for EEA and Swiss nationals to apply for entry clearance visas, following the end of free movement when the UK left the EU at the start of 2021. EEA and Swiss nationals represented 10% of work visas granted in the latest year. Non-EEA nationals granted work-related visas also rose by 55% compared with 2019 with the increase partly reflecting the recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on international travel.

For further details see ʻWhy do people come to the UK? To work’.

3.2 Study

In the year ending June 2022, there were 486,868 Sponsored study visas granted (to both main applicants and their dependants), 71% (202,147) more than 2019.

The number of Sponsored study visas granted in the year ending June 2022, is the highest on record in our time series, with the substantial increase representing both a recovery from lower numbers during the Covid-19 pandemic but also an increase on the pre-pandemic period.

There were 117,965 grants to Indian nationals in the year ending June 2022, an increase of 80,569 (+215%) compared to 2019. Chinese nationals were the second most common nationality granted Sponsored study visas in the year ending June 2022, with 115,056 visas granted, 4% lower than the number seen in 2019 (119,825). In the other top 5 nationalities, Nigerian nationals saw the largest relative increase in Sponsored Study grants compared with 2019, increasing by 57,545 (+686%) to a record high of 65,929, making them the third largest nationality group in the latest year.

Non-Russell group universities now make up 56% of all CAS used in study visa applications. This is the highest proportion of Non-Russell group CAS seen since the Sponsorship time series began in 2010.

For further details see ʻWhy do people come to the UK? To study’.

3.3 Family

There were 303,553 visas and permits granted for all family reasons in the year ending June 2022, 61% more than 2019, largely due to increases in dependants of people coming on work or study visas, and the dependants of the newly introduced British Nationals (Overseas) route.

Of these, there were 36,470 family-related visas granted, 34% fewer than 2019; almost three quarters (71%) of family-related visas granted in the year ending June 2022 were to partners, with the remainder being for children or other dependants.

There were 226,443 dependants of people coming to the UK on other types of visas, up 180% since 2019; there were particularly large increases in grants to dependants of Sponsored study visa holders (from 16,047 in 2019 to 81,089 in the year ending June 2022), and dependants of the ‘Worker’ visa category (up from 49,798 to 99,990), which represents the primary visa category for skilled workers. This number also includes 30,489 dependants of main applicants on the BN(O) route.

There were 40,602 EU Settlement Scheme permits issued in the year ending June 2022 to family members of people from the EU, EEA and Switzerland granted or eligible for settled or pre-settled status through the EU Settlement Scheme on the basis of residence in the UK before the end of the transition period. This is more than 6 times the number that was granted in 2019 (6,611, a 514% increase). A total of 96,588 have been issued since the route opened in March 2019.

For further details see ʻWhy do people come to the UK? For family reasons’.

4. How many people do we grant asylum or protection to?

The UK offered protection (in the form of asylum, humanitarian protection, alternative forms of leave and resettlement) to 15,684 people (including dependants) in the year ending June 2022. This number was 24% lower than in 2019, but similar to levels seen from 2015 to 2018. Resettlement accounted for 1,622 (10%) of the people offered protection in the latest year. The resettlement data here does not include the people who have been resettled under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme or relocated under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy; statistics on these schemes will be included in future editions of Immigration Statistics.

There were 63,089 asylum applications (main applicants only) in the UK in the year ending June 2022, this is 77% more than in 2019. This is higher than at the peak of the European Migration crisis (36,546 in year ending June 2016) and is the highest number of applications for almost two decades (since 2003).

In the year ending June 2022, there were 14,706 initial decisions made on asylum applications. Although the number of decisions has increased in the last year, they remain 29% below numbers in 2019, before the pandemic. Just over three quarters (76%) of the initial decisions in the year ending June 2022 were grants (of asylum, humanitarian protection or alternative forms of leave), which is a substantially higher grant rate than in pre-pandemic years and the highest since 82% in 1990. Of the top ten nationalities applying for asylum, half have a grant rate above 80% (Iran 85%, Afghanistan 97%, Eritrea 97%, Syria 98% and Sudan 92%). This rise in grant rate is in part because of the low number of refusals (including third country refusals, which have been affected by the UK leaving the EU), although the overall grant rate can vary for a number of reasons.

For further details see ʻHow many people do we grant asylum or protection to?’.

5. How many people continue their stay in the UK or apply to stay permanently?

5.1 Extension of temporary stay in the UK

Excluding extensions granted to individuals who were unable to leave the UK because of travel restrictions or self-isolation related to COVID-19, there were 447,259 decisions on applications to extend a person’s stay in the UK (including dependants) in the year ending June 2022, 37% more than a year earlier and 46% more than in 2019.

5.2 Settlement

There were 122,266 decisions on applications for settlement in the UK in the year ending June 2022, a 13% increase on the previous year and 29% more than in 2019. Of these, 120,770 (99%) resulted in a grant.

5.3 EEA nationals and their family members

Documents issued under European law are no longer valid as evidence of a right of residence in the UK unless an application to the EUSS was made on or before 30 June 2021. Applications received before 1 January 2021 are still being processed. More information is available on the relevant visas and immigration pages on GOV.UK.

In the year ending June 2022, there were a total of 783 decisions on applications for EEA residence documents, only two percent of the number in the previous year. This included 679 registration certificates and registration cards issued, and 72 documents certifying permanent residence and permanent residence cards issued.

The Home Office publishes regular updates to EU Settlement Scheme numbers. The latest data show that 6.7 million applications to the EU Settlement Scheme had been received up to 30 June 2022, of which 6.5 million had been concluded.

5.4 Citizenship

There were 179,963 applications for British citizenship in the year ending June 2022, 3% more than in 2019.

Applications for citizenship by non-EU nationals has remained broadly stable since 2014, whilst applications by EU nationals increased up to mid-2021. EU nationals accounted for over a quarter (27%) of all citizenship applications in the latest year compared to 12% in 2016. Increases in citizenship applications from EU nationals since 2016 are likely to reflect people seeking to confirm their status in the UK following the EU referendum and the UK’s exit from the EU.

There were 194,058 grants of British citizenship in the year ending June 2022, 22% more than in 2019. This increase comes after a period of relative stability since 2014.

For further details see ʻHow many people continue their stay in the UK?’.

6. How many people are detained or returned?

6.1 Immigration detention

24,004 people entered immigration detention in the year ending June 2022, this represented a small decrease of 2% compared with pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

At the end of June 2022, there were 2,038 people in immigration detention (including those detained under immigration powers in prison), close to three times more than at the end of June 2020 (698) when the impact of the pandemic was most pronounced and 24% more than pre-pandemic levels at the end of December 2019 (1,637).

23,529 people left detention in the year ending June 2022 which was 4% fewer than in 2019. Just over two-thirds (67%) had been detained for seven days or less, compared with 39% pre-pandemic in 2019. This change was in part due to an increasing proportion of detainees being detained for short periods on arrival to the UK before being bailed (85% of those leaving detention in the year ending June 2022 were bailed) with the most common reason being an asylum (or other) application being raised.

6.2 Returns

In the year ending March 2022, there were 3,231 enforced returns, 55% fewer than in 2019 pre-pandemic (7,198). The vast majority of enforced returns in the latest year were of Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) and 51% were EU nationals.

Enforced returns have been declining since the peak in 2012 with the most recent fall related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of enforced returns were very low during quarters that coincided with lockdowns starting in late March 2020 and early January 2021 (363 and 429). Numbers have increased to around 810 per quarter; however, this was still below the pre-pandemic levels in 2019 (which saw around 1,800 returns per quarter).

In the year ending March 2022, there were 3,025 FNOs returned from the UK, of which 55% were EU nationals (1,673) and 45% were non-EU nationals (1,352). FNO figures are a subset of the total returns figures and in the year ending March 2022 constituted the vast majority of enforced returns and 26% of enforced and voluntary returns combined.

This figure of 3,025 FNO returns was 41% lower than in 2019 (5,128). Whilst non-EU FNO returns have started to increase following the COVID-19 pandemic, FNO returns have shown an overall downward trend since 2016, following a steady increase before this, with the majority of FNOs returned being from the EU in every year since 2014.

For further details see ʻHow many people are detained or returned?’.

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