Accredited official statistics

How many people claim 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-claim-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) claiming asylum.

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

Additionally, more detail on asylum claims from small boat arrivals is available in section 3 of the ‘How many people come to the UK irregularly?’.

1. How many people claim asylum in the UK?

108,138 people claimed asylum in the UK in 2024, which was 18% more than in 2023 and 5% more than the previous recorded peak of 103,081 in 2002. In 2024, 84,231 claimants were main applicants and 23,907 were dependants.

Figure 1: Number of people claiming asylum in the UK, years ending December 2002 to December 20241

Source: Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement – Asy_D01 and Irregular migration to the UK detailed dataset - Irr_D02

Notes:

  1. Includes main applicants and dependants.

Figure 1 shows that asylum claims were particularly high in the early 2000s, due to a large number of people fleeing persecution from countries with conflicts and political instability, such as Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia.

Between 2004 and 2020, there were between 22,000 and 46,000 people claiming asylum in the UK each year. However, since the second half of 2021, there has been a noticeable increase, with the number of people claiming asylum reaching over 108,000 in 2024 which is the highest number of people claiming asylum on record (going back to 1979). This includes 2 consecutive quarters of over 30,000 people claiming asylum, with the latest quarter (September to December 2024) recording the highest number of people claiming asylum in a single quarter (31,276), ahead of July to September 2022, when 30,869 people claimed asylum.

Some asylum seekers claim asylum immediately upon arrival to the UK, while others may have been present in the UK some time prior to making an asylum claim. Some arrivals on legal visa routes may find during or at the end of their leave that they are unable, or unwilling, to return to their country of origin and therefore claim asylum in the UK.

Since 2020, there has been an increase in people arriving in the UK without leave to enter via small boats across the English Channel. Almost all small boat arrivals claim asylum (99% in 2024). As shown in Figure 1, 34,978 people claiming asylum in 2024 had arrived on a small boat (32% of the total). The remaining claimants will have entered either through other irregular routes (such as via lorries or shipping containers); through the common travel area without valid permission to enter; or through regular routes with either valid leave to enter (such as using a visa) or using fraudulent documents. Internally matched data for asylum claims suggests that around 20% of people claiming asylum in 2023 held a valid visa within the 7 days prior to the lodging of an asylum claim.

2. Who claims asylum in the UK?

Pakistan (10,542), Afghanistan (8,508) and Iran (8,099) were the most common nationalities claiming asylum in 2024, together representing 25% of people claiming asylum.

Figure 2: Top 10 nationalities claiming asylum in the UK, 2022 to 2024, and grant rate at initial decision (%), 20241, 2, 3

Source: Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement – Asy_D01 and Asy_D02

Notes:

  1. The figure shows the top 10 nationalities claiming asylum in 2024.
  2. The number of people claiming asylum includes main applicants and dependants.
  3. The percentages in the figure show the grant rate at initial decision for each nationality in 2024. Grant rate is the proportion of initial decisions (grants and refusals) which resulted in a grant of protection or other leave (main applicants only).

Figure 2 shows that the largest increase in claims came from Pakistani and Vietnamese nationals. Pakistani nationals claiming asylum have risen 79% in the latest year to 10,542 and claims from Vietnamese nationals have more than doubled (+113%) to 5,259.

59% of people claiming asylum in 2024 were adult males.

Table 1: People claiming asylum in the UK, in 2024, by age and sex

Male Female
Aged 17 and under 12,622
(12%)		 8,265
(8%)
Aged 18 and over 63,835
(59%)		 23,351
(22%)

Source: Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement – Asy_D01

In 2024 there were 4,104 claims from unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC), 4% of people claiming asylum. The majority of UASCs (76%) were aged 16 to 17 years old. The number of UASC claims in 2024 was 16% less than in the previous year. This fall was largely due to fewer claims from Afghan UASCs, which were down 47% compared to 2023. In 2023 Afghanistan was the top UASC nationality.

For 16 to 17 year olds claiming asylum in 2024, 68% were UASCs, compared with children aged 15 and under, of which 6% were UASCs. Dependants and non-UASC child main applicants will have claimed asylum with an accompanying adult.

A small percentage of asylum claims, (2% in 2023), involve individuals seeking protection due to their sexual orientation. For more details, see the ‘Asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation annual chapter’.

3. How does the UK compare with the EU+?

The EU+ refers to the 27 countries in the EU, 3 additional countries who are members of the European Economic Area (EEA), Switzerland, and Montenegro. The latest available comparative data for the EU+ relates to the year ending September 2024.

In the year ending September 2024, there were 1.11 million people claiming asylum in the EU+, a decrease of 3% compared to the previous year (and compared to a 1% increase in the UK).

Compared with other European countries, the UK received the fifth largest number of asylum seekers in the year ending September 2024 (99,790). The UK received 8% of the total number of asylum claimants across the EU+ and UK combined, and the seventeenth largest intake when measured ‘per head of population’.

Germany received the highest number of people claiming asylum in the EU+ with 294,415 claimants (more than a quarter of the total), followed by France (162,390), Italy (162,305), and Spain (161,470).

The top nationality claiming asylum in each country differs. In the year ending September 2024, Pakistanis were the top claiming nationality in the UK compared to Syrians in Germany, Afghans in France, Bangladeshis in Italy and Venezuelans in Spain.

Figure 3: The number people claiming asylum to the UK and the top 4 countries in the EU+, year ending September 2020 to year ending September 20241, 2

Source: Eurostat Asylum statistics and Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement – Asy_D01

Notes:

  1. Top 4 countries in the EU+ receiving asylum applicants in the year ending September 2024.
  2. Includes main applicants and dependants.

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

Further links:

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