Official Statistics

Additional statistics relating to Illegal Migration (December 2023)

Updated 26 April 2024

This ad hoc statistical release provides an update with the latest available Home Office data for December 2023. This information supports the Prime Minister’s statement on 2 January 2024. It is provisional data derived from internal operational MI (Management Information) unless otherwise indicated.

A selection of statistics from Home Office operational systems relating to the Illegal Migration Act were first published on 24 April 2023 to support parliamentary debates on the Act and have been subsequently updated on several occasions.

Statistics on the number of migrants detected crossing the English Channel in small boats are updated daily by the Home Office and published on GOV.UK. Comprehensive data on small boat arrivals is published by the Home Office in the statistical report on small boats and irregular migration as part of the regular quarterly Home Office Immigration system statistics.

The most recent daily statistics on the number of migrants crossing the English Channel show that 602 small boats were detected between 1 January 2023 and 28 December 2023, compared to 1,110 in the same period last year.

Methods of irregular entry to the UK can be unsafe and leave migrants open to exploitation by organised crime groups. The Home Office is committed to tackling organised immigration crime. Between 1 January 2023 and 30 November 2023, Home Office Immigration Enforcement have arrested over 246 persons for people smuggling into the UK and there have been 124 convictions.

Based upon information provided by French authorities, the number of small boats prevented from crossing the channel by the French have increased over the last year.

The Home Office undertook 707 Organised Crime Group disruption activities between 1 October 2022 and 30 November 2023, compared to 554 between 1 October 2021 and 30 November 2022. These numbers will not include additional work aimed at organised crime groups by the National Crime Agency (NCA).

Further details on the work of the National Crime Agency can be found in the National Crime Agency - Annual Report and Accounts 2022-2023.

The Home Office published a wide range of statistics relating to the operation of the Asylum system in the ‘How many people do we grant protection to?’ chapter of the quarterly Immigration system statistics.

Local provisional MI shows that, in the 4 weeks from 20 November to 17 December 2023 there were 20,481 initial asylum decisions made. This number of decisions compares to a total of 20,039 decisions made in the whole of 2021.

There were more than 112,138 initial asylum decisions made on asylum cases between 1 January and 28 December 2023. In the year 1 January to 31 December 2022 there were 31,766 initial decisions.

Of the 112,138 initial asylum decisions, 77,019 were substantive decisions (51,469 grants and 25,550 refusals, which is a grant rate of 67%). This represents the highest annual number of substantive decisions on asylum cases made since 2002^{[footnote 1]}. 86,800 of these decisions were made on Legacy applications^{[footnote 2]}, with a further 25,338 decisions on Flow applications^{[footnote 3]}. Please see data table Asy_D02 of the Immigration system statistics data tables for further details.

Of the 112,138 initial asylum decisions made between January and 28 December 2023, 35,119 were non-substantive decisions. In the year 1 January to 31 December 2022 there were 13,093 non-substantive decisions. Non-substantive decisions include withdrawn applications and administrative decisions (void and deceased).

Official Statistics on the Afghan bridging hotel exit operational data, as of 31 August 2023, were updated on 23 November 2023.

Home Office statistics have previously shown that the volume of Afghans accommodated in hotels has decreased from 8,799 in bridging hotels at the end of March 2023 to 1,683 in interim hotel accommodation at the end of September 2023.

Based on provisional Internal MI, the number of hotels used to accommodate asylum seekers has decreased from 398 on 22 October 2023, to 348 on 17 December 2023.

Home Office statistics published in November show that the accommodated Asylum population (Hotel Population) on 30 September 2023 was 56,042. Provisional Home Office MI shows that the volume of Asylum applicants in hotels has also decreased further between the end of September and 17 December 2023.

Provisional data quoted on this page has been extracted from live operational databases and may differ from other statistics published subsequently. The next update of the quarterly Home Office Immigration system statistics will be published on 29 February 2024.

1. Main applications/grants and refusals only, comparing January to 28 December 2023 to full calendar year in Immigration system statistics data tables: ASY_D02. ↩

2. Applications made before 28 June 2022 are counted as ‘legacy’ cases. ↩

3. Applications made on or after 28 June 2022 are counted as ‘flow’ cases. ↩