The Cost of Deportation in the UK
Source: Home Office - Average cost of an Immigration Enforcement return FY 2024 to 2025 (published 9 March 2026)The Home Office published official return costs for the first time in March 2026, covering financial year 2024/25. An enforced removal - where a person is physically escorted out of the UK by immigration officers - costs an average of £48,800. A voluntary return through the Assisted Voluntary Returns programme costs an average of £4,300. The enforced route is 11.3 times more expensive per person.
The costs break down across five categories: caseworking and logistics (staff time processing the case), detention (housing people in immigration removal centres, typically at £100–130 per person per day), escorting (custody officers accompanying the individual to the departure point and often on the flight itself, frequently requiring two officers per person), flight costs (scheduled or charter flights), and voluntary returns payments (financial support for those departing voluntarily). The methodology counts both successful and unsuccessful removal attempts together, because the government says it is "not possible to isolate the cost of successful returns only."
The rise in the cost of enforced removal has been dramatic. An estimated £15,000 per case in 2022/23 became £28,000 in 2023/24 and £48,800 in 2024/25 - a 225% increase in two years. The government attributes this partly to a higher proportion of complex, contested cases requiring longer detention and more legal processing. The overall Immigration Enforcement budget for 2023/24 was £482 million, covering detection, locating, and removal operations.
The figures put the now-scrapped Rwanda scheme in context. The National Audit Office estimated it would cost approximately £150,000 per person transferred - more than three times the cost of a standard enforced removal. The scheme was scrapped by the incoming Labour government in July 2024 after the Supreme Court ruled it unlawful and before a single transfer had taken place.
The arithmetic of scale is sobering. At £48,800 per enforced removal, removing all 10,361 foreign nationals currently in UK prisons would cost approximately £505 million - slightly more than the entire annual Immigration Enforcement budget. This does not mean it is impossible, but it illustrates why the government manages a rolling programme of removals rather than attempting a rapid clearance of the FNO population. Voluntary return, at £4,300, represents far better value - and explains why the Assisted Voluntary Returns programme has been expanded significantly.
Average Cost Per Enforced Removal (2022/23–2024/25)
The cost of each enforced removal has risen sharply. Note: 2022/23 and 2023/24 figures are estimates from parliamentary questions; 2024/25 is the first official published figure.
Enforced vs Voluntary Returns: Spend and Volume (2024/25)
Enforced returns (8,600) consumed £420m. Voluntary returns (13,700) cost just £58m - 7× more volume for 86% less spend.
What Does the Cost Include?
| Cost Component | Description |
|---|---|
| Caseworking & logistics | Staff processing time, case management, documentation |
| Detention | Immigration Removal Centre costs; typically £100–130/person/day |
| Escorting | Custody officers accompanying the individual; often 2 officers per person on flight |
| Flight costs | Scheduled or charter flight expenses; charter flights used for bulk removals |
| Voluntary Returns Payments | Financial support paid to those departing through the AVR programme |
Excludes: port returns, verified returns, and prior costs (arrests, contact management, legal aid, appeal proceedings). Source: Home Office, March 2026.
See also: Asylum accommodation costs - housing one person in a hotel for a year (approx. £62,050) costs more than their removal (£48,800).