UK Migration Overview
UK net migration has declined to its lowest level since 2012, excluding the period affected by the Covid pandemic.
This report examines how this trend aligns with other key migration indicators, including asylum applications, small boat arrivals, and visas issued.
for detailed figures and answers to frequently asked questions on various migration topics.
Produced by: Rob England, Libby Rogers, Jess Carr, Aidan McNamee, John Walton, Becky Dale, Allison Shultes, Chris Kay, Steven Connor, and Scott Jarvis.
Graphics by: Jez Frazer, Zoe Bartholomew, and Joy Roxas
About the Data
Data presented here are sourced from government and other official bodies and may be revised in subsequent releases. This page reflects the most recent available data.
Immigration, Emigration, and Net Migration
The net migration figure for the UK will not exactly equal immigration minus emigration because the Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes it as a rounded number.
Estimates of immigration and emigration from the ONS are updated biannually.
Net migration figures adhere to the internationally recognised definition of a long-term migrant: "A person who moves to a country other than that of their usual residence for at least a year."
The total number of visa entries includes only visas granted and excludes visitor or transit visas where the UK is not the final destination.
Visa data record the date permission was granted, not the date of arrival or whether the individual arrived in the UK.
If an individual receives multiple visas within the same year, each visa is counted separately.
Work visas encompass new permissions granted or extensions, covering categories such as seasonal work, health and care, domestic worker, and youth mobility visas.
Study visas include all individuals sponsored by approved UK education providers, as well as those on short-term study visas.
Family visas permit individuals to join or remain with close family members in the UK, including spouses, partners, children, parents, or those coming to care for relatives.
The "Other" visa category includes visas outside work, study, and family routes, such as humanitarian schemes like the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and the British National (Overseas) route, as well as family permits for people from European Union or European Economic Area countries.
Asylum Applications and Accommodation
Home Office data classify asylum seekers housed in hotels under "contingency accommodation - hotel."
All other accommodation types include non-hotel contingency accommodation, initial accommodation, dispersal accommodation, and "other" accommodation.
To assess the distribution of accommodation, a scale compares each local authority's share of people in a given accommodation type with the UK-wide average for areas using the same accommodation type.
Backlog figures for individuals awaiting an initial asylum decision include both main applicants and their dependants.
Open appeals against refused asylum applications are counted by individual and published quarterly by the Ministry of Justice, separate from other government asylum statistics. These figures also include a small number of appeals against revocation of protection.
Small Boat Crossings and Other Irregular Arrivals
Small boat crossing data and the average number of people per boat are sourced from Home Office daily reports.
Entering the UK without permission is an immigration offence; however, asylum seekers who claim asylum upon arrival are generally not prosecuted. In some instances, prosecutions occur alongside other offences such as people smuggling or re-entry after deportation.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) compiles data on individuals who have died or gone missing while crossing from mainland Europe to the UK. These reports rely on information from French and UK officials (including police and coastguard) and media sources. The IOM considers these figures an undercount due to the absence of official statistics.
The data may include individuals who died in the Channel or while en route to a crossing point.
Modern slavery data reflect final decisions only. Modern slavery encompasses human trafficking, slavery, servitude, and forced labour.
Figures for other irregular entries combine all recorded irregular arrivals not involving small boats, including inadequately documented air arrivals, detections at UK ports, and other detections within the UK.
Individuals denied entry at the border who subsequently leave the UK are excluded from the returns figures presented here.
Government-facilitated returns are categorized as follows:
- Enforced returns (including deportations) involve Home Office-mandated removals, typically due to lack of legal right to remain or following criminal convictions.
- Assisted voluntary returns occur when individuals agree to leave the UK and receive government support, such as assistance with travel documents, flights, or reintegration.
- Controlled voluntary returns refer to voluntary departures formally recorded by the Home Office without forced removal.
- Independent returns, termed "other verified returns" by the government, denote individuals who have left the UK without formal assistance.
Returns following criminal convictions include non-British citizens convicted in the UK of any criminal offence or convicted abroad of serious offences.
UK Migration Compared with Other Countries
Sea arrival figures combine data from the UNHCR European sea arrivals dashboard with UK Home Office small boat data.
Asylum application, immigration, and emigration figures for European countries are the latest available from Eurostat for Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Norway, Switzerland, and Croatia.
UK population figures derive from the ONS, National Records of Scotland, and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency 2024 mid-year estimates. European population figures are sourced from Eurostat as of 1 January 2024.
To ensure comparability, European countries with populations under one million are excluded from per-capita comparisons of net migration and asylum applications.
For net migration comparisons, only countries including asylum seekers or refugees in their immigration figures are considered. These countries are Austria, Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Slovenia, Spain, and Switzerland.
Portugal was excluded due to the absence of net migration data for 2024 but will be re-included in future updates.
