Accredited official statistics

How many people do we grant protection to?

Published 22 August 2024

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

An asylum application may relate to more than one person, if the main applicant has family members (‘dependants’) who are included in the same application. This release features data on both the number of asylum applications or initial decisions (‘main applicants only’), and the number of people related to asylum applications and initial decisions (‘main applicants and dependants’).

1. Overview of people offered protection

A total of 67,978 people were granted refugee status or other leave following an asylum application in the year ending June 2024. Of these, there were:

• 62,089 people granted refugee permission
• 4,365 people granted humanitarian protection
• 1,524 people granted alternative forms of leave (such as discretionary leave, UASC leave)

Additionally, a total of 93,342 people were offered a safe and legal (humanitarian) route to the UK in the year ending June 2024. This includes refugees resettled to the UK and family members of refugees, although the majority relate to individuals on visa routes for Ukrainian nationals and British National Overseas (BNO) passport holders coming from Hong Kong. More information on safe and legal (humanitarian) routes can be found in ‘Safe and legal (humanitarian) routes to the UK’.

2. Asylum applications

There were 75,658 asylum applications in the UK in the year ending June 2024, 8% fewer than in the year ending June 2023.

There were 75,658 asylum applications (relating to 97,107 people) in the UK in the year ending June 2024. This is 8% lower than the number of applications in the year ending June 2023 (82,275 applications, relating to 102,371 people) and 10% lower than the previous peak in 2002 (84,132 applications). In comparison, between 2004 and 2020 the number of applications were between 18,000 and 36,000 per year.

Figure 1: Asylum applications lodged in the UK, years ending June 2002 to June 2024¹

Source: Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement – Asy_D01

Notes:

1. Main applicants only.

There were 4,781 applications from unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) in the year ending June 2024, 16% less than in the year ending June 2023. UASC applications made up 6% of total asylum applications to the UK in the year ending June 2024.

2.1 Asylum applications by nationality

The decrease in applications in the latest year is largely accounted for by an 78% drop in Albanian applicants.

In the year ending June 2024, there were 2,648 Albanian applications. This was 78% fewer than the year ending June 2023 when there were 12,194 Albanian applications, linked to the high number of Albanian small boat arrivals in summer of 2022. The number of Albanian small boat arrivals has fallen substantially in the latest year, and asylum applications from Albanians have therefore decreased as well.

Several other common nationalities also saw a decrease in claims in the latest year, including those from Iraq (down 30% to 2,497), Afghanistan (down 26% to 7,479) and Iran (down 25% to 6,014). These last 2 nationalities are still the most common nationalities claiming asylum in the UK.

There were increases in applications from some other nationalities over the period, including from Pakistan (which doubled to 5,960 and is now the third most common claimant nationality), Eritrea (up 40% to 3,919), Sudan (up 28% to 3,850) and Turkey (up 26% to 3,466). Applications from Vietnamese nationals trebled, from 1,396 to 4,368 over the same period.

Figure 2: Top 10 nationalities claiming asylum in the UK, years ending June 2022 to June 2024, and grant rate at initial decision (%), year ending June 2024^{1, 2}

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

Notes:

1. The figure shows the top 10 nationalities in the year ending June 2024, main applicants only.
2. The percentages in the figure show the grant rate at initial decision for each nationality in the year ending June 2024. Grant rate is the proportion of initial decisions (grants and refusals) which resulted in a grant of protection or other leave.

2.2 Asylum applications by route of entry to the UK

Asylum seekers use a variety of routes to travel to the UK, including:

• legal visa routes, that is, with valid leave to enter
• regular routes using fraudulent documents
• clandestine (irregular) entry, such as on small boats, lorries or shipping containers
• through the common travel area without valid permission to enter

Some asylum seekers claim asylum immediately upon arrival to the UK; others may have been present in the UK some time prior to making an asylum claim. For example, arrivals on legal visa routes may find during or at the end of their leave that they are unable to return to their country of origin and have reason to claim asylum in the UK. Internally matched data for asylum claims where the claimant can be linked to a previous visa suggests that around 20% of people claiming asylum in 2023 held another form of leave within 7 days of lodging an asylum application.

Almost all small boat arrivals claim asylum (99% in the year ending June 2024), but small boat arrivals accounted for just 31% (29,976) of people claiming asylum in the UK in the year ending June 2024. More detail on asylum claims from small boat arrivals is available in section 4 of the ‘Irregular migration to the UK, year ending June 2024’ release.

Please note that information on the route of arrival for asylum seekers is based on matching data records between differing systems. As with all data matching, some cases may not be correctly matched.

3. Asylum applications awaiting an initial decision

At the end of June 2024, there were 85,839 cases awaiting an initial decision, 36% fewer than at the end of June 2023.

At the end of June 2024, there were 85,839 cases (relating to 118,882 people) awaiting an initial decision. This was 36% fewer than a year earlier (when the number of applications peaked at 134,046, relating to 175,457 people). However, this remains much higher than in the period 2010 to 2018, where the number of cases awaiting a decision grew from around 6,000 to 27,000.

Figure 3: Number of applications awaiting an initial decision, as at 30 June 2014 to as at 30 June 2024^{1, 2, 3}

Source: Asylum and resettlement summary tables – Asy_10a

Notes:

1. Includes main applicants only.
2. Figures include the number of applications awaiting a decision at the end of the period, rather than the total throughout the period.
3. The asylum backlog refers to asylum applications made before 23 July 2024. The backlog cases are split into 2 cohorts: applications made on or before 27 June 2022 are reported as ‘Pre-NABA’ cases and applications made on or after 28 June 2022 are reported as ‘Post-NABA’ cases. The Nationality and Borders Act 2022 (NABA) came into force on 28 June 2022. In future publications, applications made on or after 23 July 2024 will be referred to as ‘Flow’ cases.

The decrease in the number of cases awaiting an initial decision since June 2023 reflects an increase in the number of initial decisions in the second half of 2023, due to a combination of factors, including an increase in the number of asylum decision makers, and improvements in decision maker productivity. The improvements in productivity included simplified guidance, shorter focused interviews, and streamlining initiatives (including the Streamlined Asylum Process, which sought to accelerate the processing of manifestly well-founded asylum claims and, where possible, allow positive decisions to be taken without the need for a substantive interview).

By December 2023, caseworkers had completed processing a large number of cases which were raised prior to the Nationalities and Borders Act (2022) and had begun processing more recent applications. However, asylum applications from individuals who arrived in the UK after 7 March 2023 had been on hold under the Illegal Migration Act. This has led to a reduction in the numbers of decisions in 2024, meaning that the number of outstanding cases was only one per cent lower at the end of June than compared with the preceding quarter. The Home Secretary made a statement to the House of Commons on 22 July 2024 setting out plans to remove the retrospective application of the Illegal Migration Act, which will allow decision-makers to progress the cases that had been put on hold.

In addition to those awaiting an initial decision, the asylum casework system includes cases who have appealed their initial decision and are awaiting an outcome, as well as failed asylum seekers who are subject to removal from the UK.

Data on the total number of outstanding cases in the asylum system (‘asylum work in progress’), asylum decision makers, processing times and productivity is published in the ‘Immigration and Protection’ data of the Migration Transparency Data collection.

There were 224,742 cases in the asylum system at the end of June 2024, of which less than 40% were cases awaiting an initial decision. The number of cases in the wider asylum system is 4% higher than in June 2023, despite a 36% decrease in the number awaiting initial decisions over the same period. This is because a large number of cases which received initial decisions in the latest year received refusals, and many of those will have gone to appeal, (therefore remaining in the wider asylum system whilst awaiting their appeal outcomes). The latest tribunal statistics from HMCTS to March 2024 show that the number of asylum related appeals received by the First Tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber has increased following the Home Office work to tackle to initial decision backlog.

4. Support provided to asylum seekers

People in the asylum system who are destitute receive support from the UK Government. This could be the provision of accommodation, subsistence (cash support) or both, overseen by the Home Office.

At the end of June 2024, there were 100,995 individuals in receipt of asylum support, of which 29% were in hotel accommodation.

At the end of June 2024, there were 100,995 individuals in receipt of asylum support, 3% fewer than at the end of March 2024 and 14% fewer than at the end of June 2023. Of these:

• 29,585 (29%) were in hotel accommodation, down 14% from 34,530 at the end of March
• 67,057 (66%) were in other accommodation, including initial, contingency and dispersal, up one per cent from 66,139 at the end of March
• 4,353 (4%) were in receipt of subsistence support only, up 20% from 3,630 at the end of March

Data on asylum seekers on support by local authority area is also published and can be found at Asylum seekers in receipt of support by local authority – Asy_D11.

5. Outcomes of asylum applications

5.1 Initial decisions

In the year ending June 2024, there were 91,885 decisions made, almost 4 times more than in the previous year.

In the year ending June 2024, there were 91,885 initial decisions made on asylum applications, almost 4 times as many initial decisions than in the year ending June 2023 and the highest number of decisions in a year since the year ending March 2002. The increase in decisions is linked to more asylum decision makers and increased productivity; see section 3 for more detail.

Between January 2023 and March 2024, there were an average of 6,163 withdrawals per quarter, of which 41% were from Albanian nationals. This is much higher than in previous years, such as in 2022 when there was an average of 1,314 withdrawals per quarter. However, in the second quarter (April to June) of 2024, the number of withdrawals dropped to 2,413. This is in part due to a large fall in withdrawals from Albanian nationals (13% of the withdrawals that quarter), and also due a fall in overall decisions during this period.

In the year ending June 2024, 76% of withdrawals were implicit withdrawals – made by the Home Office rather than the applicant – which can occur for a number of reasons, including where someone has already left the UK before their claim was concluded, where they fail to attend their asylum interview, or fail to maintain contact with the Home Office.

5.2 Grants of refugee status and other protection

The asylum grant rate relates to cases receiving an initial decision in the year ending June 2024. However, these applications may have been made in an earlier period. Therefore, the latest grant rate may not necessarily be indicative of the outcomes for claims made most recently.

The data on grants in this section include only those granted at initial decision following an asylum application. There will be additional people who receive a grant of protection following an appeal against the initial decision on their application. For further information on latest outcomes, see section 5.4 of this chapter.

In the year ending June 2024, 58% of initial decisions were grants – a lower proportion than the 71% granted in the year ending June 2023.

Just under 3-in-5 (58%) initial decisions in the year ending June 2024 were grants of refugee status, humanitarian protection or alternative forms of leave. This is lower than the previous year (71%), but still higher than between 2017 and 2019, where the number of applications that were successful at initial decision grew from around a third to a half.

The overall grant rate can vary for a number of reasons, including the mix of nationalities applying for asylum, and the protection needs of those who claim asylum in the UK. It is also 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.

Figure 4: Number of asylum decisions by type of outcome, and overall grant rate, per quarter, 2018 Q2 to 2024 Q2^{1, 2, 3, 4}

Source: Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement – Asy_D02

Notes:

1. Main applicants only.
2. Outcomes refer to initial decisions (grants and refusals), withdrawals and administrative outcomes. The date relates to when the outcome was issued.
3. Administrative outcomes are only included from 2023 Q1 onwards.
4. Grant rate is shown as a percentage on a secondary axis. Grant rate is the proportion of initial decisions which resulted in a grant of protection or other leave. Excludes withdrawals and administrative outcomes.

The grant rate in the latest quarter (April to June 2024) was 33% - which is lower than the 3 previous quarters (42%, 59% and 79% respectively). This may be linked to the fact that the majority of cases issued with a decision in the last 2 quarters would be subject to the Nationality and Borders Act 2022, under which claims were considered under a higher standard of proof, which may have resulted in fewer cases meeting the requirements for a grant of protection status.

Grant rates vary considerably by nationality as the protection needs of specific groups or individuals differ, usually depending on the situation in their home country. Currently, there are a large number of applications from individuals from countries with ongoing conflict. As shown in Figure 2, which summarises the data for the ten most common asylum-seeking nationalities, almost all applications from Afghan, Eritrean, Syrian and Sudanese nationals are granted at initial decision, and a high proportion of Iranian (82%) nationals are also granted. In contrast, some other nationalities have much lower grant rates. India and Albania were the sixth and eleventh most common nationalities applying for asylum but had grant rates of just 4%.

5.3 Initial decisions on asylum claims from small boat arrivals

In the year ending June 2024, there were 35,176 decisions made on asylum applications from people who arrived on small boats, over 4 times more initial decisions than in the year ending June 2023 (7,888 initial decisions).

Seventy-two per cent of the initial decisions for small boat arrivals were grants of refugee status, humanitarian protection or alternative forms of leave in the year ending June 2024. This is lower than the previous year but higher than the general asylum grant rate.

However, this difference varies by nationality and may reflect the differing composition of small boat arrivals compared to other asylum claim cohorts. For example, the asylum grant rate for Turkish asylum applications was 51% in the year ending June 2024, but for Turkish small boat arrivals it was only 32%. Additionally, the general asylum grant rate for Vietnamese applications was 46%, but for small boats arrivals only 29%. The general asylum grant rate will also include small boat arrivals.

More detail on initial decisions on asylum claims from small boat arrivals is available in the ‘Irregular Migration detailed datasets and summary tables’.

5.4 Latest outcomes of asylum applications

Grants and refusals in the previous sections relate to outcomes at initial decision. An asylum application outcome may change following appeal or review and it is likely therefore that the final grant rate will be higher than the grant rate at initial decision.

The following section focuses on the latest available case outcome for asylum applications. As both more initial decisions are made and appeals are completed, the number of grants and refusals for applications from all years (but particularly more recent years) will increase, and this will be reported on in future publications.

Figure 5: Latest outcomes of asylum applications, by type of outcome, 2015 to 2023^{1, 2, 3}

Source: Outcomes of asylum applications – Asy_D04

Notes:

1. Main applicants only.
2. Data is based on the year of application, and the latest outcomes are as given at the point of data extraction in July 2024.
3. The proportion of applications awaiting an outcome will be lower in earlier years as more time has elapsed for the cases to be processed than those from more recent years.

Figure 5 shows the proportion of latest outcomes for applications made each year between 2015 and 2023. For applications in 2023, the outcome was not known for 68% of cases at the point of data extraction in July 2024. The vast majority of cases without a known outcome are those awaiting an initial decision on their asylum claim, while a small number are those that have been retrospectively closed for administrative reasons.

The latest grant rate, reflecting appeals and other outcomes, was estimated to be 63% in 2006 and 50% in 2007. This proportion has increased since 2007, reaching 76% in 2020. The grant rate based on latest case outcome is lower in 2022 and 2023 at 62% and 37% respectively; however, the proportion of applications awaiting a final outcome, either an initial decision or the outcome of an appeal or review, is much higher for more recent years as less time has elapsed so some cases will not have been completed.

Figure 6: Estimated initial and latest asylum grant rate by year of application^{1, 2, 3, 4}

Source: Outcomes of asylum applications – Asy_D04

Notes:

1. Main applicants only.
2. Data is based on the year of application, and the latest grant rate is calculated from latest outcomes as given at the point of data extraction in July 2024.
3. 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 applications will have received case outcomes.

Figure 6 shows the grant rate has increased on average by about 20 percentage points between initial and latest outcome for each annual cohort of applications made between 2006 and 2022. The difference between initial and latest grant rate will usually be smaller in more recent years as there has been less time for appeals and reviews to be concluded.

6. International asylum comparisons

The UK numbers in this section include dependants, in order to be comparable with the data published by Eurostat. 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+ area relates to the year ending March 2024.

In the year ending March 2024, asylum applications in the EU+ increased by 9%, whilst in the UK they fell 10%.

In the year ending March 2024, there were 1.16 million people claiming asylum in the EU+, an increase of 10% compared to the previous year (and compared to a 9% decrease in the UK).

Germany received the highest number of asylum applicants in the EU+ with 329,635 applicants (up 17% compared to the year ending March 2023), followed by France with 164,205 applicants (similar to the year ending March 2023), Spain with 163,700 applicants (up 27%) and Italy with 147,760 (up 52%). Some other countries in the EU+ have seen a fall in asylum applicants in the last year with Austrian applications halving in the year ending March 2024 when compared to the previous year (from 111,045 to 55,920 applicants).

When compared with other European countries, the UK received the fifth largest number of asylum seekers (93,150). This equates to 7% of the total asylum applicants across the EU+ and UK combined over that period, but the 20th largest intake when measured ‘per head of population’.

Figure 7: The number of asylum applicants to the UK and the top 4 countries in the EU+, year ending March 2020 to year ending March 2024^{1, 2}

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

Notes:

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

The EU+ and the UK received 50,076 applications from UASC in the year ending March 2024. The UK received the third largest intake of UASC applications in the EU+ and UK, with 5,001 applications in the year ending March 2024 (10% of all UASC applications in the EU+ and UK). Germany received the highest number with 15,805 (32%) applications, the Netherlands was second with 6,380 (13%) and Austria fourth with 4,430 (9%) applications.

7. About these statistics

This section provides information on those applying for asylum in the UK. Information on those offered safe and legal (humanitarian) routes to come to the UK, including resettlement and family reunion visas can be found in ‘Safe and legal (humanitarian) routes to the UK’.

Further data relating to asylum and protection can be found in our data tables, and further details on the statistics can be found in the user guide.

7.1 Asylum applications and initial decisions

An asylum applicant (also referred to as ‘asylum seekers’) is someone who makes a claim to be recognised as a refugee under the ‘Refugee Convention’ and receive protection and assistance.

Data on asylum applications relates to the period in which the application was lodged, and initial decisions relate to the period in which the decision was made. Initial decisions may; therefore, relate to an application made in an earlier period, and thus the 2 are not directly comparable.

Data on initial decisions on asylum applications will not represent the total number of people granted refugee status or other protection as some initial decisions may be overturned following appeal. Data on the number of appeals lodged, and their outcomes, is published in ‘Asylum appeals lodged and determined – Asy_D06 and Asy_D07’. Asylum appeals data from April 2023 onwards was not available at the time of data extraction for this release due to ongoing work as immigration data transitions to a new case working system. Updated data will be included in a future edition of the Immigration system statistics release. Figures for immigration and asylum appeals at First-Tier Tribunal and subsequent stages are published by the Ministry of Justice as part of their Tribunal Statistics release. For a full list of differences between the Tribunal Statistics and Home Office asylum appeals statistics, see the user guide.

7.2 Support provided to asylum seekers

The data on support includes support provided under Section 95, Section 98 and Section 4. Further details on these types of support can be found in the user guide.

The data shows the number of people in receipt of support on a given day, but does not show the length of time for which someone receives support or the amount of support they receive.

7.3 Asylum claims considered inadmissible

Inadmissibility data for January to June 2024 was not available at the time of data extraction for this release due to ongoing work on the new system. Updated data will be included in a future edition of the Immigration system statistics release. The most recent available data, to December 2023, can be found in the previous release.

Data on transfers into and out of the UK under the Dublin Regulation (prior to the UK leaving the EU) is available in Dub_D01.

7.4 International comparisons

Eurostat asylum statistics can be used to compare asylum statistics with EU member states. Eurostat data is not directly comparable with other Home Office Immigration system statistics data. Eurostat figures combine main applicants and dependants, and as such that is how comparative UK statistics are presented in this section. For a full list of differences between Eurostat and Home Office asylum statistics, see the user guide.

8. Data tables and further links

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

• Asylum and resettlement data tables

Further links:

• Irregular migration to the UK statistics
• Statistics relating to the Illegal Migration Act
• Migration transparency data
• Migrant journey: 2023 report
• Eurostat asylum statistics
• Asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation, 2023
• Safe and legal (humanitarian) routes to the UK
• Afghan Resettlement Programme: Operational Data
• Ukraine Visa Schemes: visa data
• Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas) route

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See section 6 of the ‘About this release’ section for more details.