Key figures, answered directly
Every headline figure this site publishes, in one place, each with the period it covers and a link to the official source it came from.
Each figure below is generated from the same data the individual pages render — this page cannot show a different number from the page it links to.
Home
Independent watchdog tracking illegal and irregular immigration to the UK: small-boat crossings, asylum-system costs, foreign national offenders, deportation failures and local impacts. Every figure links to its official source.
- Small-boat arrivals, latest week
- 199 (week ending 20 September 2026 · source)
- Small-boat arrivals this year
- 18,609 (1 January to 24 September 2026 · source)
- People awaiting an initial asylum decision
- 40,168 (as at 30 June 2026 · source)
- Asylum seekers in hotels
- 16,021 (as at 30 Jun 2026 · source)
- Enforced returns
- 9,669 (year ending June 2026 · source)
- Asylum support spend
- £4.0bn (FY 2024-25 · source)
Arrivals
Small-boat Channel crossings tracked weekly from Home Office data: latest week, cumulative year comparisons, monthly trend since 2018, annual totals and claimant demographics.
- Arrivals, latest week
- 199 (3 boats) (week ending 20 September 2026 · source)
- Arrivals this year so far
- 18,609 (1 January to 24 September 2026 · source)
- Arrivals, 2025 (official)
- 41,472 (calendar year 2025 · source)
- Top nationality of arrivals
- Eritrea (7,583) (calendar year 2025 · source)
- Adult-male share of arrivals
- 74.1% (calendar year 2025 · source)
- Total long-term net migration (ALL routes, overwhelmingly lawful — context only, not irregular migration)
- 171,000 (year ending Dec 2025 (provisional) · source)
- Share of arrivals claiming asylum or receiving an NRM referral
- 99% (arrival year 2025 · source)
Asylum
Asylum claims since 2010, the backlog and how long people wait, grant rates including small-boat claims by nationality, inadmissibility, and the support system that houses claimants.
- People claiming asylum
- 85,891 (Year ending June 2026 · source)
- Awaiting an initial decision
- 40,168 (as at 30 June 2026 · source)
- Backlog peak
- 175,457 (as at 30 Jun 2023 · source)
- Waiting 12 months or more
- 11,014 (as at 30 June 2026 · source)
- Asylum-related grants
- 42,394 (Year ending June 2026 · source)
- Small-boat claim grant rate at initial decision
- 48% (Year ending June 2026 · source)
- In receipt of Home Office support
- 93,293 (as at 30 June 2026 · source)
Hotels
Every official figure on asylum hotel accommodation: the quarterly population and its peak, the local authorities where hotel places are recorded, and the audited cost of hotel use.
- Asylum seekers in contingency hotels
- 16,021 (as at 30 Jun 2026 · source)
- Hotel population peak
- 56,018 (30 Sep 2023) (31 Mar 2014 to 30 Jun 2026 · source)
- Local authorities with recorded hotel places
- 101 (as at 30 Jun 2026 · source)
- Hotels' share of asylum accommodation contract cost
- 76% (first seven months of FY 2024-25 · source)
Appeals
The live asylum-appeals series: First-tier Tribunal receipts, outcomes and open caseload, plus the Home Office cohort analysis showing final grant rates including appeals.
- Open appeals at the First-tier Tribunal (IAC)
- 151,767 (at end of 2025/26 Q4 · source)
- of which asylum/protection
- 87,450 (at end of 2025/26 Q4 · source)
- Asylum appeals allowed
- 45% (financial year 2024/25 · source)
- 2022 claim cohort grant rate, initial vs latest
- 60% vs 68% (claim cohorts 2010 to 2025 · source)
Nationalities
The published nationality tables side by side: illegal-route arrivals per year, asylum claims, grant rates and backlogs by nationality, and — separately, with its own caveats — foreign nationals in prison.
- Largest illegal-route arrival nationality
- Eritrea (7,583) (calendar year 2025 · source)
- Eritrea asylum claims and grant rate
- 6,952 claims, 84% granted at initial decision (Year ending June 2026 · source)
- Largest foreign-national group in prison (separate register, E&W)
- Albanian (943) (as at 30 June 2026 · source)
Costs
Asylum support spending, hotel costs and accommodation contract totals — every figure a verified citation from the National Audit Office or Home Office accounts.
- Asylum support spend, 2024-25
- £4.0bn (FY 2024-25 · source)
- Asylum accommodation contracts — original 10-year estimate
- £4.5bn (2019–2029 contract term · source)
- Asylum accommodation contracts — current 10-year estimate
- £15.3bn (2019–2029 contract term · source)
- Hotels' share of asylum accommodation contract cost
- 76% (first seven months of FY 2024-25 · source)
- Immigration detention cost per person per day
- £148.72 (2026 Q2 · source)
- Home Office's own unit cost per asylum conclusion
- £25,122 (financial year 2023/24 · source)
- Asylum Legal Help matters completed and their cost
- 17,236 matters, £16.3m (financial year 2026-27 · source)
- Total asylum costs (department's own accounting)
- £4.36bn (financial year 2025/26 · source)
- Provider payments in the £25k+ transparency disclosures
- Clearsprings £464.2m, Mears £84.4m, Serco £233.4m across 18 months (January 2025 to June 2026 · source)
Crime & Justice
Foreign national offenders in prison and in the community, deportation and returns data, and organised immigration crime — from Ministry of Justice and Home Office statistics.
- Foreign nationals in prison (E&W)
- 10,134 (11.8% of prisoners) (as at 30 June 2026 · source)
- FNOs subject to deportation action living in the community
- 21,294 (as at end of 2026 Q2 · source)
- Total returns
- 40,605 (year ending June 2026 · source)
- Enforced returns
- 9,669 (year ending June 2026 · source)
- FNO returns
- 5,962 (year ending June 2026 · source)
- Largest FNO-return offence group
- Drug offences (1,870) (year ending June 2026 · source)
- Small-boat arrivals returned (published cohort)
- 3,310 (year ending June 2026 · source)
- Left detention by removal vs bail
- 9,888 removed vs 10,908 bailed (Year ending June 2026 · source)
Integration
English language proficiency, employment by country of birth, Prevent referrals by ideology, official inquiry findings on group-based child sexual exploitation, and public opinion — official sources only.
- Main language is not English (E&W)
- 5,134,447 (Census day, 21 March 2021 · source)
- Cannot speak English well or at all (E&W)
- 1,040,346 (Census day, 21 March 2021 · source)
- Prevent referrals
- 8,775 (April 2024 to March 2025 · source)
- Largest Prevent concern type
- No ideology identified (3,040) (April 2024 to March 2025 · source)
- Employment rate, UK-born vs non-UK-born
- 74.6% vs 76.5% (Apr-Jun 2026 (LFS, not seasonally adjusted) · source)
Local
Where asylum seekers in receipt of Home Office support are accommodated: every UK local authority, ranked, with dispersal and contingency accommodation breakdowns.
- Asylum seekers in receipt of Home Office support
- 93,293 (as at 30 Jun 2026 · source)
- Local authorities with contingency hotels
- 101 (as at 30 Jun 2026 · source)
- Households owed a homelessness relief duty after leaving asylum accommodation (England)
- 2,760 (January to March 2026 · source)
- Largest local authority by supported asylum seekers
- Glasgow City (3,938) (as at 30 Jun 2026 · source)
Sources
Every source this site uses, its cadence, licence and last-checked date — plus full methodology, the anti-fabrication rule, and the corrections policy.
Returns
Enforced, voluntary and port returns, foreign national offender returns, the twenty-year series and the monthly operational counts — five different measures that are never added together.
Detention
People held in immigration detention, how long completed detentions lasted, what actually ended them, and the welfare record: Rule 35 reports, pregnant women detained, and use of force on escorted returns.
Illegal working
Illegal working visits and arrests by English region, civil penalties issued to employers, and disruptions of organised immigration crime by threat level.
Detention centres
The nine immigration removal centres and what the three independent bodies that scrutinise them have published about each — including the centres where they have published nothing.
- Immigration removal centres in the Ombudsman's list
- 9 (investigations published up to 2025-09-12 · source)
- Centres with a published investigation into a death
- 3 (investigations published up to 2025-09-12 · source)
- Centres with no published investigation into a death
- 6 (investigations published up to 2025-09-12 · source)
- Centres named in a published inspection report
- 7 (published up to 2026-09-28 · source)
Regions
The twelve English regions and UK nations compared: supported asylum seekers, hotel places, the rate per 10,000 residents, and the direction of travel across the published quarters.
- Region or nation with the most supported asylum seekers
- North West (18,962) (as at 30 Jun 2026 · source)
- Highest per 10,000 residents
- North East (25.5) (as at 30 Jun 2026 · source)
- Region or nation with the most hotel places
- London (5,487) (as at 30 Jun 2026 · source)
- Regions and nations compared
- 12 (as at 30 Jun 2026 · source)
Petitions
The largest immigration and asylum petitions on Parliament's petitions site: signature counts, where in the UK they came from, government responses and debate dates.
Legislation
Immigration and asylum bills before Parliament with their stage timelines, and how the Commons voted, from the Bills and Commons Votes APIs.
How many?
The most-asked question about illegal immigration, answered honestly: no official estimate of the illegal population exists, the Home Office says so in writing, and the figures that do exist count something else.
- Official estimate of the number of people resident in the UK without permission
- none published — the Home Office states it does not seek to make any official estimates of the illegal population (user guide updated 2024-11-28 · source)
- Small-boat arrivals detected this year (a flow, not a population)
- 18,609 (1 January to 24 September 2026 · source)
- People awaiting an initial asylum decision (a snapshot; lawfully present while it is decided)
- 40,168 (as at 30 June 2026 · source)
- Returns from the UK in the latest year (a flow out, not deducted from any stock)
- 40,605 (year ending June 2026 · source)
Then and now
Each measure at the two ends of its own published series, with its peak: small-boat arrivals, asylum claims, the backlog, accommodation, hotels, returns, detention and net migration.
- Small-boat arrivals detected — then vs now
- 299 (2018) vs 41,472 (2025); peak 45,774 (2022) (Detections in a calendar year. The series begins in 2018 because the route did. · source)
- Asylum claims — then vs now
- 22,644 (2010) vs 101,911 (2025); peak 104,764 (2024) (People claiming asylum in a calendar year. · source)
- Awaiting an initial asylum decision — then vs now
- 9,441 (30 Jun 2010) vs 40,168 (30 Jun 2026); peak 175,457 (30 Jun 2023) (A snapshot on one date, not a flow. People are lawfully present while a claim is decided. · source)
- In receipt of Home Office asylum support — then vs now
- 31,294 (31 Mar 2014) vs 93,293 (30 Jun 2026); peak 123,758 (30 Sep 2023) (A snapshot on one date, all accommodation types. · source)
- In contingency hotels — then vs now
- 0 (31 Mar 2014) vs 16,021 (30 Jun 2026); peak 56,018 (30 Sep 2023) (A snapshot. Hotels are a subset of the row above, not an addition to it. · source)
- Enforced returns — then vs now
- 21,425 (2004) vs 9,908 (2025); peak 21,425 (2004) (Returns the state carried out, in a calendar year. Not the same as all returns. · source)
- Voluntary returns — then vs now
- 3,566 (2004) vs 29,807 (2025); peak 31,762 (2010) (Departures the person made themselves, including assisted and controlled ones. · source)
- Entering immigration detention — then vs now
- 25,904 (2010) vs 23,072 (2025); peak 32,447 (2015) (Entries in a calendar year — occurrences, so one person can appear twice. · source)
- Total long-term net migration (context, not irregular) — then vs now
- 162,000 (year ending Jun 2012) vs 171,000 (year ending Dec 2025); peak 944,000 (year ending Mar 2023) (An ONS estimate covering ALL routes, overwhelmingly lawful. It is here for scale and must not be compared with, or added to, any row above it. · source)
Third country
The Home Office's own final account of the Migration and Economic Development Partnership — £715 million spent to June 2024, four volunteers relocated, no asylum seekers — with the published cost table and what third-country processing means now.
- Home Office spend on the Rwanda partnership and the Illegal Migration Act
- £715m (2022-23 to June 2024 · source)
- People relocated to Rwanda under the partnership
- 4 volunteers and 0 asylum seekers (April 2022 to July 2024 · source)
- Scheduled future payments avoided by ending the partnership (not money recovered)
- £220m (April 2025 onwards · source)
- Identified for consideration under the inadmissibility rules
- 1,979 (2026 Q2 · source)
Scrutiny
The six independent bodies that scrutinise the immigration system: select committees and the state of their government responses, coroners' reports to the Home Office, ombudsman investigations, the inspectorate, the monitoring boards and the statistics regulator.
- Select committee reports on asylum and immigration
- 7 (reports published up to 2026-06-05 · source)
- Of those, response deadline passed with none recorded in the parliamentary record
- 1 (as at 2026-10-01 · source)
- Coroners' Prevention of Future Deaths reports sent to the Home Office on the immigration system
- 4 (reports published up to 2025-07-15 · source)
- Ombudsman investigations into deaths in immigration detention
- 4 across 3 of 9 establishments (investigations published up to 2025-09-12 · source)
Data status
Every dataset behind the site, how old it is, and whether it is inside the cadence window the build checks it against. The build warns on a stale dataset rather than refusing to ship, because a publisher releasing late is not an error in this site; what it does refuse to ship is a figure without its source, period and retrieval date. Ages are measured at build time and the page states the date they were measured on. Published rather than asserted.
Questions
The 200 most recently answered written parliamentary questions on asylum, small boats and immigration enforcement — with median time to answer, answering department, and who is asking.
- Written questions on asylum and enforcement published here
- 200 (answered 2026-09-08 to 2026-09-29 · source)
- Median days from tabling to answer, across those questions
- 9 (answered 2026-09-08 to 2026-09-29 · source)
- Answered on or before the date the record gives for the answer
- 53 of 200 (named-day 19 of 23; ordinary 34 of 177) (answered 2026-09-08 to 2026-09-29 · source)
- Department answering most of those questions
- Home Office (172, median 9 days) (answered 2026-09-08 to 2026-09-29 · source)
The machine-readable versions
The same figures are published as llms.txt and llms-full.txt for language models, and every underlying series is downloadable as CSV or JSON from the data page. Corrections to anything on this site are logged at /corrections.
Data as of
Cite this page
Key figures, answered directly. Migration Watchdog, data as of 2026-10-02. https://migrationwatchdog.com/answers Underlying figures: UK official statistics, re-published under OGL v3.0 — every figure links to its source on the page.