Accredited official statistics

How many people are granted asylum in the UK?

Published 27 February 2025

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-december-2024/how-many-people-are-granted-asylum-in-the-uk

Back to ‘Immigration system statistics, year ending December 2024’ content page.

Data relates to 2024 and all comparisons are with 2023 (unless indicated otherwise).

An asylum claim may relate to more than one person, if the main applicant has family members (‘dependants’) who are included in the same claim.

This release focuses on the number of people (main applicants and dependants) receiving outcomes on their asylum claims.

Statistics on other parts of the asylum system are available in other chapters of this report - ‘How many people claim asylum in the UK?’ and ‘How many cases are in the UK asylum system?’.

More detail on the outcomes of asylum claims from small boat arrivals by arrival date is available in section 3 of the ‘How many people come to the UK irregularly’ release.

1. How many people are granted protection at initial decision?

The data in this section relates to grants at initial decision following an asylum claim. Additional numbers of people receive a grant of protection following an appeal. Other people will be granted refugee status when they are brought to the UK under UNHCR resettlement schemes (reported in ‘How many people come to the UK via safe and legal (humanitarian) routes?’).

In 2024, 39,616 people were granted refugee protection or other leave at initial decision, 37% fewer than in 2023 (63,008). Of these, 30,115 were main applicants and 9,501 were dependants.

Of the 39,616 people granted protection or other leave, 90% (35,559) were granted refugee status. A further 3,346 (8%) were granted Humanitarian Protection status, where the claimant does not meet the criteria of a grant of refugee status, but may be at risk of serious harm if they were to return to their country of origin. The remaining 711 (2%) grants were of other types of leave, such as grants under family and private life rules, discretionary and UASC (Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children) leave, or leave outside the rules.

Figure 1: Number of people granted or refused protection following an asylum claim in the UK, 2015 Q1 (January to March) to 2024 Q4 (October to December)1

Source: Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement – Asy_D02

Notes:

  1. Includes main applicants and dependants.

In total, 84,049 people received initial decisions (grants of protection or other leave, and refusals) in 2024, 11% less than in 2023. However, there has been a high degree of fluctuation in the number of decisions issued each quarter within this period.

Figure 1 shows that the number of initial decisions peaked in the final 3 months of 2023, with 29,298 people granted protection or other leave, and 20,377 people refused protection, as part of efforts to clear the pre-NABA backlog (claims made on or before 27 June 2022).

After the 2023 Q4 (October to December) peak, the number of initial decisions fell during the first 9 months of 2024 as many claims were on hold under the Illegal Migration Act 2023. However, on 22 July 2024, the retrospective application of the act was removed through a statutory instrument so that cases that had been put on hold could be progressed. The number of people receiving initial decisions in the latest quarter (October to December 2024) was more than double (+155%, to 31,419) the previous 3 months (July to September 2024).

2. What proportion of asylum seekers are granted protection at initial decision?

The asylum grant rate is the proportion of cases (excluding dependants) with initial decisions (grants and refusals) which resulted in a grant of protection or other leave. The number of asylum initial decisions is based on the date of initial decision, so may relate to claims made in an earlier period. Therefore, the grant rate at the latest decision will reflect earlier claims and may not necessarily be indicative of the outcomes for claims made more recently.

47% of claims receiving an initial decision in 2024 were grants.

The grant rate in 2024 (47%) was lower than in 2023 (67%). The decrease reflects that the majority of cases issued with a decision in 2024 would be subject to the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, under which claims were considered under a higher standard of proof. This may have resulted in fewer cases meeting the requirements for a grant of protection status.

However, Figure 2 shows that the grant rate in 2024 was still higher than in any year prior to 2019. The average grant rate between 2001 and 2018 was 29%, with the highest grant rate in this period being 41% in 2014.

Figure 2: Asylum grant rate at initial decision between 2001 and 20241

Source: Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement – Asy_D02

Notes:

  1. Grant rate is the proportion of initial decisions (main applicants only) which resulted in a grant of protection or other leave. Excludes withdrawals and administrative outcomes.

The grant rate can vary for a number of reasons, including the mix of nationalities applying for asylum in the UK, and individuals’ differing needs for protection. It may also be affected by operational resourcing and policy decisions, such as changes to the types of cases prioritised for decisions. The Home Office guidance on caseworking prioritisation is published on GOV.UK.

3. Who is granted protection at initial decision?

Grant rates vary considerably across nationalities. Figure 3 shows that almost all claims from Syrian (98%) and Sudanese (99%) nationals were granted at initial decision in 2024, and a high proportion of claims from Eritrea (87%) were also granted. In contrast, only 3% of claims made by Albanian nationals that received an initial decision in the latest year were granted.

Figure 3: The number of asylum claimants receiving initial decisions in the UK, for the top 10 nationalities, and the grant rate at initial decision (%) in 20241, 2

Source: Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement – Asy_D02

Notes:

  1. The figure shows the top 10 nationalities receiving initial decisions in 2024.
  2. The number of people receiving initial decisions includes main applicants and dependants. The grant rate includes main applicants only.

There were 3,114 grants of protection or other leave at initial decision to unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in 2024. 72% of decisions on UASC claims were grants of leave in 2024, a higher grant rate than non-UASC claims (45%).

Since 2018, the Home Office has published statistics on asylum cases where a person’s sexual orientation formed a part of the basis of their claim. In 2023, 2,133 grants at initial decision (main applicants only) were made where sexual orientation was part of the claim. The grant rate for these claims in 2023 was 62%, similar to the grant rate for non-LGB asylum claims in that period (67%). More information can be found in the ‘Asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation 2023’ release.

4. How do latest outcomes compare to initial outcomes?

The outcome of an asylum claim may change following an appeal or a review. As more initial decisions are made and appeals are also completed, the number of grants and refusals relating to claims made in previous years will change, particularly for more recent years.

Between 2007 and 2020, the grant rate has increased on average by 21 percentage points from the initial to the latest outcome.

Figure 4 : Estimated grant rates at initial and latest decision by year of claim1, 2, 3, 4

Source: Outcomes of asylum applications – Asy_D04

Notes:

  1. Main applicants only.
  2. Data is based on the year of the claim, and the grant rate at the latest decision is calculated from the latest outcome, as given at the point of data extraction in July 2024.
  3. The grant rate is the proportion of decisions which resulted in a grant of protection or other leave. Excludes withdrawals and administrative outcomes.
  4. The grant rates are estimates as not all claims will have received case outcomes.

Figure 4 shows that the grant rate at the latest decision, reflecting appeals and reviews, has increased by between 15 and 29 percentage points each year from 2007 to 2020. In recent years, this gap has narrowed as there has been less time for appeals and reviews to be concluded, and many claims are still awaiting an initial decision.

The grant rate increased by 39 percentage points for claims raised in 2006 due to a backlog clearance exercise.

5. How many people do not receive a substantive decision on their asylum claim?

A substantive decision on an asylum claim is a grant or refusal, based on the merit of the claim itself. However, some claims are closed before a substantive decision is issued – for example, a claim may be withdrawn (by the claimant or by the Home Office) or be closed for administrative reasons.

Where a claimant does not comply with the requirements within the asylum process, their claim can be withdrawn by the Home Office under one of the conditions in paragraph 333C(b) of the Immigration Rules. This is known as an implicit withdrawal of an asylum claim.

In 2024, 17,810 people had claims withdrawn, of which 79% were implicit withdrawals. This was a 32% decrease on the previous year, largely due to a decrease from Albanian nationals which fell by 66%.

However, this was still 3 times higher (+200%) than in 2022. This increase reflects the increase in overall outcomes since 2023, but also that the proportion of cases (excluding dependants) with a withdrawn outcome at initial decision has increased in recent years. While 12% of case outcomes in the 10 years before 2022 were withdrawals, this has increased to 22% between 2022 and 2024 (excluding administrative outcomes).

Data referred to here can be found in the following tables:

Further links:

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