How many asylum applications does the UK receive?

The Home Office's quarterly immigration system statistics report asylum claims, initial decisions, grant rates, appeals and the number of cases awaiting a decision. Detailed tables break these down by nationality, age and sex.

Applications can be counted as main applicants or including dependants, and the backlog can be measured as cases or people. Check which version a figure uses before comparing.

Official sources: Immigration system statistics · Asylum data tables

The latest figure

The newest value is at Office for National Statistics (ONS). More on it: UK net migration.

When is the next figure out?

Twice a year; next release date to be announced on the ONS release calendar. No API: the spreadsheet file name changes with each release and must be read from the dataset page

Every official release due in the next two weeks is on the release calendar.

Terms used in this answer

• Net migration
  Long-term immigration minus long-term emigration over a period, usually a rolling year. It measures the net change in population from migration.
• Asylum backlog
  The number of asylum claims awaiting a decision. Usually means claims awaiting an initial Home Office decision, not appeals.
• Asylum grant rate
  The share of asylum decisions in a period that resulted in a grant of protection or other leave, usually calculated at the initial decision stage.
• Irregular migration (illegal entry routes)
  People arriving in the UK without permission, such as by small boat or hidden in vehicles. Home Office statistics now use the term illegal entry routes.
• Refugee status
  Protection granted to someone who has shown a well-founded fear of persecution in their own country under the 1951 Refugee Convention.
• Provisional figures
  Early estimates published before all data are in, so users get timely figures. They are expected to be updated when later data arrive.

Where the figures come from

• Higher education and student finance statistics (HESA, Student Loans Company, Office for Students and DfE)
  Official figures on UK student numbers, international students, student loan debt, graduate earnings, university finances and apprenticeships.
• UK population and vital statistics (ONS, National Records of Scotland and NISRA)
  Where to find official UK figures on births, fertility, baby names, marriage, divorce, households, population estimates, projections and the census.
• Home Office statistics (immigration, borders and policing)
  Find Home Office figures on small boat arrivals, asylum, hotels, visas, returns, detention, police numbers and stop and search, and how to read them.

Related questions

• How many asylum seekers are in hotels?
• How many small boats crossed the Channel today?
• What is net migration to the UK?

This answer says where the official figures are published and how they are defined. It gives no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request. More questions about immigration, small boats and asylum: all Immigration, small boats and asylum questions.