Source: Home Office Immigration System Statistics, year ending June 2026 (published 27 August 2026); Refugee Council; House of Commons Library
Key finding: The UK received 82,559 asylum applications in 2025 - the third highest annual total on record. The grant rate for initial decisions was 42%. Small boat Channel crossings reached 45,183 in the year to September 2025, a 51% increase. The last published total asylum caseload was 224,742 at June 2024; that series has since been suspended by the Home Office, and 40,168 people were awaiting an initial decision at 30 June 2026.
82,559
Asylum applications (2025)
Third-highest annual total on record. 101,911 individuals (Asy_01a).
41,472
Small boat arrivals (2025)
Home Office small boats time series, calendar year 2025.
93,293
Supported asylum seekers
In Home Office accommodation, 30 June 2026 (Asy_D11).
16,021
In hotels/contingency
17% of the supported total, 30 June 2026 (Asy_D11).
224,742
Total asylum caseload
Asylum work in progress at 2024 Q2 — the LAST published figure. The Home Office has since suspended this series (ASY_03) and flags that this quarter is inflated by post-decision cases whose served decisions were not recorded. Currently awaiting an initial decision: 40,168 (30 June 2026).
38%
Grant rate
At initial decision, the year ending June 2026 (cases basis, Asy_00a). Down from 48% a year earlier.
600,000–1.2m
Irregular migrants (est.)
Includes visa overstayers. Fundamentally uncertain (Migration Observatory).
Asylum is the legal right of anyone who has reached the UK to claim refugee protection under the 1951 Refugee Convention and the 1967 Protocol. A person claiming asylum is asserting that they face a well-founded fear of persecution in their home country on grounds of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership of a particular social group. It is not illegal to claim asylum, regardless of how the person arrived.
In 2025, the UK received 82,559 applications, involving 101,911 individuals (some applications cover families). This is the third-highest annual total on record, behind the peaks of 2022 and 2023. Of initial decisions made that year, 42% granted some form of protection - either refugee status or Humanitarian Protection. The remaining 55% received an initial refusal, though many of those go on to appeal (see our tribunal data page).
Grant rates vary enormously by nationality, reflecting genuine differences in the security situations of origin countries. Yemen (94%) and Sudan (91%) have near-certain grant rates, reflecting civil wars recognised by the UK courts as creating a well-founded fear for the vast majority of applicants. Afghanistan (88%) similarly reflects the Taliban's return to power. At the other end, India (1.4%) and Brazil (1.1%) have almost universally refused claims - both are stable democracies where asylum claims rarely meet the legal threshold.
Small boat Channel crossings continued to rise in 2025 after a brief fall in 2023. The 2023 dip was largely attributed to the Albania returns agreement - Albanians fell from the top small-boat nationality once removals accelerated - but other nationalities filled the gap. Eritreans (17%), Afghans (13%), and Iranians (11%) are now the dominant nationalities. The full-year 2025 total of 41,472 arrivals by small boat compares to 29,437 in 2023 and the peak of 45,755 in 2022.
Home Office accommodation for asylum seekers reached significant scale in 2025. 111,651 people were in Home Office-funded accommodation at the end of September 2025, of whom 36,273 (32%) were in hotels or other contingency accommodation - a category the government had sought to eliminate but was forced to reopen from autumn 2024 as the backlog of unprocessed claims grew. An estimated 600,000–1.2 million irregular migrants remain in the UK (Migration Observatory estimate, 2025), including visa overstayers and those whose claims have been refused but who have not been removed.
Asylum Grant Rate by Nationality (2020–2025)
Percentage of asylum claims granted protection at initial decision. Green = high grant rate (genuine refugee need likely). Amber = medium. Red = low.
Asylum initial decision grant rates by nationality. Yemen 94%, Afghanistan 88% at the high end; India 1.4%, Brazil 1.1% at the low end.
Small Boat Arrivals by Year (2018–2025)
Small boat Channel crossings by year 2018–2025. Peak: 45,755 in 2022. Total by end of 2025: over 167,000.
Small Boat Arrivals by Nationality (Year to Sep 2025)
Nationalities of small boat arrivals 2025. Eritrean 17%, Afghan 13%, Iranian 11%.
Frequently Asked Questions
The UK received 82,559 asylum applications in 2025 - the third highest annual total on record. The last published total asylum caseload was 224,742 at June 2024; that series has since been suspended by the Home Office, and 40,168 people were awaiting an initial decision at 30 June 2026. Source: Home Office Immigration Statistics, 2026.
The overall initial decision grant rate in 2025 was 42%. Grant rates vary by nationality: Yemen (94%), Sudan (91%) and Afghanistan (88%) have near-certain grant rates; India (1.4%) and Brazil (1.1%) have almost universally refused claims. Source: Home Office.
41,472 people arrived via small boat in 2025, up from 29,437 in 2023. Since 2018, over 208,000 people have made the crossing (to August 2026). Of those, 8,427 (4.3%) have been returned. Source: Home Office, year ending March 2026 (published May 2026).
In 2025, the largest small boat nationality groups were Eritrean (17%), Afghan (13%) and Iranian (11%). Albanians, previously the largest group in 2022, fell sharply after the Albania returns agreement facilitated faster removals from 2023. Source: Home Office.