Asylum in the UK

This briefing examines the UK asylum system, providing statistics on the main characteristics of refugees and asylum seekers, the financial costs of the asylum system, and asylum decision-making.

How has the number of asylum claims changed over time?

In 2024, around 105,000 people claimed asylum in the UK, the highest number since records began in 1979. This surpassed the previous record of around 103,000 people in 2002, which was driven by wars in Somalia, Afghanistan, and Iraq (Figure 1). In 2025, 101,000 people claimed asylum in the UK, which continued to be high by historical standards.

Asylum migration is driven by several factors, including poverty, inequality, and conflict. Changes over time in the number of people claiming asylum in the UK are driven in large part by geopolitical events, as well as changes in entry routes, networks, and, to some extent, policy. For example, the spike in people who came to the UK to seek asylum from 1998 to 2002 comprised mainly nationals of Somalia, Afghanistan, Iraq, and the former Yugoslavia, which were then sites of war (Figure 1). From 2022 onwards, the rise in asylum claims has similarly been shaped by global events, including ongoing conflicts in the Middle East and rising instability in the Horn of Africa and South Asia. Note that not all people from unstable or conflict-prone countries qualify for asylum.

Figure 1

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How do asylum seekers arrive in the UK?

Most asylum seekers arrive in the UK through unauthorised routes, which is where the applicant enters the UK without the appropriate visa. In 2025, 52% of those claiming asylum had entered via an unauthorised route, including 41% by small boat. However, applications from people entering on a visa, which is an authorised route, have become more common from 2022 onwards. The share of asylum applications where the applicant first entered on a visa rose from 30% in 2018 to 39% in 2025 (Figure 2). Among these, work and study visas were the most common routes of entry.

According to the Home Office, certain nationalities of asylum claimants were significantly more likely to have entered the UK on a visa or other forms of leave in the year ending 2025, including nationals of Pakistan (89%) and Nigeria (87%). Bangladesh (85%) and India (71%).

Figure 2

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What were the top nationalities of asylum seekers in 2025?

Among the top countries of origin in 2025, asylum claims increased most sharply among Somali (+255%), Eritrean (+83%), and Sudanese (+25%) nationals compared to 2024 (Figure 3). These increases are driven by a combination of ongoing armed conflict and political instability in the Horn of Africa.

Claims from Bangladeshi, Pakistani and Indian nationals also increased markedly from 2022 to 2025. By 2025, Pakistan had become the largest country of origin for people seeking asylum in the UK (Figure 3). Globally, the drivers of migration from Pakistan are mixed, including economic pressures such as inflation and limited job opportunities, alongside reports of political persecution and restrictions on political activity, although it is not known how these factors are reflected in the profiles of those arriving in the UK. In 2025, around one-third of Pakistani asylum applicants received a positive initial decision (Table 1).

Figure 3

Which nationalities had the highest and lowest grant rates in 2025?

Table 1 shows the ten most common countries of nationality of people (main applicants and dependants) who applied for asylum in the UK in 2025.

The share of applications that ultimately result in a grant of asylum or other permission to stay varies significantly by nationality. For example, looking at applications received across the four-year period 2020 to 2024, the share of Sudanese and Eritrean nationals who had received a grant of asylum or other permission by September 2023 was 99% and 94% (after appeal), while for Indian nationals, it was 4% (Table 1). Sudanese and Eritrean nationals also currently have the highest grant rates at initial decision, with 94% and 87% of decided applications resulting in a grant in 2025.

It is important to note that the difference between the initial decision grant rate in 2025 and the overall grant rates for the 2020-2024 period reflects both the impact of appeals and shifts in grant rates over time. As shown in Figure 5, in a later section of this briefing, most nationalities experienced a decline in grant rates from 2022.

Table 1

How have asylum grant rates changed over time?

In 2022, the share of asylum applications (main applicants) receiving a grant at the initial decision rose to a record high of 76%, which was much higher than in previous years. In 2018, the initial decision grant rate was 33% (Figure 5). Many factors could have driven the change. One contributing factor, but not the only explanation, was an increase in the number of nationalities whose asylum application grant rate is typically higher than average, such as Iranians, Syrians and Eritreans. From 2018 to 2022, the grant rate also increased for people of the same nationality in most cases (Figure 5).

This upward trend ended in 2023, when the percentage of successful applications at the initial decision stage dropped to 67%, declining further to 42% in 2025 (Figure 4).

Data from 2025 show that asylum grant rates at initial decision were broadly similar for men and women (Figure 4), although differences are more pronounced among younger (under 30) and older (over 70) applicants. Overall, 45% of women received a positive decision compared with 41% of men. Among those aged 18–29, the gap is wider, with 51% of women receiving a positive decision compared with 41% of men.

Figure 4

The decline in overall grant rates may be linked to changes introduced by the Nationality and Borders Act 2022 (NABA), which raised the standard of proof in asylum claims. Applicants are now required to demonstrate, “on the balance of probabilities”, that they would face persecution if returned to their country of origin – a higher threshold than the previous “reasonable degree of likelihood” standard see ‘Understanding the Policy’ above). Among the top 10 nationalities of asylum seekers in 2025, all experienced rising grant rates between 2018 and 2022, followed by a decline from 2023, except for Sudanese nationals (Figure 5).

Since 2018, the UK has had higher grant rates than the EU for most of the top nationalities seeking protection in the UK. As grant rates have fallen in the UK, the gap between UK and EU outcomes has narrowed—although in 2024 it remained substantially higher for Iranian, Pakistani, Sudanese, and Vietnamese nationals (Figure 5). The exception is Afghan asylum seekers, who had much lower grant rates in the UK (51%) compared with the EU (81%) in 2024. As of April 2026, EU-level data on decisions for 2025 were not yet available.

Overall, the UK’s grant rate in 2024 (47%) was slightly below the EU average (51%). The overall grant rate figure is shaped by the composition of asylum flows – particularly the extent to which people from higher-grant-rate nationalities are more likely to apply in the UK or the EU.

Figure 5

How long does it take for asylum applications to get a decision?

The time taken for asylum seekers to receive an initial decision has lengthened significantly in recent years. In Q2 2014, 87% of applications were decided within six months, falling abruptly to 26% in Q3 2018, and then gradually to just 6% by Q3 2023 (Figure 6).

There was a significant reduction in processing times since the beginning of 2024, with 70% of applications submitted in Q3 2025 being processed within six months (Figure 6). The change may be linked to a Home Office strategy to increase the number of caseworkers and apply simplified procedures for certain types of asylum casework (see our briefing on the UK’s asylum backlog).

Figure 6

How have the asylum and appeals backlogs changed over time?

The asylum backlog increased substantially from 2018 to 2022 due to both an increase in applications and longer processing times. On 30 June 2023, the backlog hit its peak, with around 175,500 people awaiting an initial decision on their asylum claim (including main dependants) – more than 18-fold the number awaiting an initial decision on 30 June 2010 (Figure 7).

Recent data show a change in this trend. While progress has been made in reducing the backlog of initial decisions – from 91,000 applications at the end of 2024 to 49,000 a year later – another backlog has built up in the courts. This appeals backlog stood at 80,000 cases at the end of 2025, roughly double its level a year earlier. The appeals backlog is not directly comparable to the initial decisions backlog due to differences in the methodology. For more information, see ‘Understanding the Policy’ above and our briefing on the UK’s asylum backlog.

Figure 7

Long waiting times also come with a considerable financial cost, because people in the asylum backlog usually live-in government-funded accommodation, and this may make it harder for the government to remove people who are eventually refused. Research also shows that longer asylum waiting times have negative impacts on long-term employment outcomes for asylum seekers, and that being unable to work while waiting for a decision is also likely to hinder long-term integration.

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How do processing times differ between grants and refusals?

The time from asylum application to initial decision varies considerably depending on the outcome. Data obtained through a Freedom of Information request indicates that between 2015 and 2025, refusals were generally processed more quickly than grants: 37% were decided within six months, compared with 27% of positive decisions (Figure 8). There have been years in which this was not the case, most notably in 2022 and 2023, coinciding with the asylum backlog peak.

Although withdrawn cases have generally been resolved more quickly than both positive and negative grants, this trend became much more pronounced between 2021 and 2023. In 2022, 44% of withdrawals took place within six months, compared with just 4% of grants (Figure 8). In 2023, the government updated its guidance, expanding the criteria under which a claim could be withdrawn, although withdrawal numbers had already begun to rise before the change.

By 2024 and 2025, as the government accelerated decision-making, the earlier pattern largely re-emerged, with grants being processed more quickly than, or at similar speeds to, refusals and withdrawals (Figure 8).

Figure 8

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What is the financial cost of operating the UK’s asylum system?

The financial cost of the UK’s asylum system increased tenfold, from £538 million in the financial year 2011/12 to £5.4 billion in 2023/24, ten years later (Figure 9). A significant driver of this rise is the asylum backlog and the growing reliance on hotels to accommodate asylum seekers (see our briefing on Asylum accommodation in the UK). In 2024/25, overall costs fell for the first time since 2013, though they remained historically high at £4.8 billion. The Home Office attributed part of this decline to efforts to reduce reliance on hotels and to speed up asylum decision-making.

These figures do not include the administrative costs of the tribunal system, which are funded separately through HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS). In the 2024/25 financial year, the final budget relating to the work of the Immigration and Asylum Chamber was £139 million, including legal aid, judicial salaries, and administrative costs. This figure, however, covers not only asylum cases but also other immigration matters such as deportation and removal appeals, immigration bail cases, and entry clearance visa appeals.

Figure 9

How have asylum support payments changed over time?

Under section 95 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, destitute asylum seekers are entitled to free accommodation and a weekly cash allowance to cover their essential living needs. The Home Office regularly reviews the level of the weekly cash allowance and has changed it 14 times since 2000 (Figure 10: Nominal payment).

When introduced in 2000, asylum seekers were entitled to one of a variety of different payments, depending on their age and whether they were a lone parent or part of a couple. In 2015, the government replaced these different payments with a single payment level for all destitute asylum seekers.

The value of support payments has declined due to inflation since the single asylum support payment was introduced in 2015 (Figure 10: Inflation-adjusted). In real terms, the payment level in 2026 of £49.18 per week or £7.03 per day was 35% lower than in 2000. Support payment levels have not changed since the end of 2023.

Figure 10

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How many people come to the UK on refugee family reunion routes?

People who submitted asylum claims before 4 September 2025 and received asylum could sponsor visas for their close family members to join them in the UK through the refugee family reunion route (see ‘Understanding the Policy’ above). From 2010 to 2020, the number of people granted asylum-related permission to stay (including grants and family reunion visa holders) remained relatively stable, ranging between 10,000 and 20,000 annually. Refugee family reunion consistently accounted for 30% to 40% of the total (Figure 11). The number of people receiving refugee family reunion visas increased sharply as the number of granted refugees increased, from 2023 to 2025 (Figure 11).

On 4 September 2025, the government suspended the family reunion route for new applicants (see ‘Understanding the Policy’ above and our commentary on the UK’s new approach to refugee family reunion). The number of family reunion visas issued fell sharply in the last quarter of 2025, from 5,300 in Q3 to 2,800 (Home Office Immigration Statistics, Table Fam_D01 March 2026). However, the full impact of the suspension is not yet reflected in the year-ending March 2026 data, as applications submitted before the suspension continued to be processed and granted in the first quarter of 2026.

Figure 11

Most asylum seekers are men (72% of adult applicants from 2015 to 2025). Male refugees who receive asylum often go on to be joined by their female partners through refugee family reunion. From 2015 to 2025, 82% of adults receiving refugee family reunion visas were women. As a result, family reunion makes the gender balance among those granted protection more even over time. During this period, it increased the share of adult women by around nine percentage points—although the asylum route remains largely male even after accounting for family reunion. The suspension of this route is therefore likely to shift the gender balance further towards men (see our briefing Migration and gender in the UK).

Table 2

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How do refugees’ qualifications and employment rates compare with those of other migrants and the UK-born?

Home Office data show that people who come to the UK to seek asylum tend to have lower levels of education compared with other migrants and the UK-born population (Figure 12). While around 16% hold high-level qualifications (NQF Level 6 and above), such as university degrees, 30% have no qualifications – compared to 8% among the UK-born.

Figure 12

Census data matched with administrative data indicate that employment rates among refugees are low, particularly in the first year after status is granted. Among those who were granted status in 2020, only 20% were employed in 2021, with the majority (62%) not looking for work. The COVID-19 pandemic is likely to have contributed to the particularly low levels of economic activity observed among the 2020 and 2021 cohorts. Over time, employment rates rose: among those granted status in 2016, almost half were employed by 2021, narrowing the gap with the UK-born (Figure 13).

Figure 13

The gender gap in employment is particularly pronounced among refugees and tends to persist over time. One year after being granted status, 12% of refugee women were employed compared with 24% of men. After five years, fewer than one-third of women were in work, versus 54% of men, indicating a widening gap (Figure 14). Data suggest that childcare and domestic responsibilities are the main drivers of inactivity among refugee women, while men are more likely to be out of work due to studying (Figure 14).

Figure 14

Research indicates that the labour-market penalties associated with motherhood are often more pronounced among migrants, particularly refugees. This reflects a combination of limited access to wider family support networks in comparison with native populations and household-level economic decisions, where women’s low potential earnings are weighed against care responsibilities. Sociocultural norms around female employment can also contribute to lower employment rates.

What types of occupations do refugees work in?

Refugees who are employed tend to work in lower-paid roles. In 2021, most were employed in elementary occupations, such as cleaning, construction, and kitchen assistants. This is followed by sales and customer support services and caring and other service occupations (Figure 15).

Figure 15

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How does the UK compare with EU countries in the number of asylum applications and grants?

In 2025, the UK received around 101,000 asylum applicants, the 5th-highest among the EU+ (the EU-27 plus Switzerland and the three EEA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway). When adjusted for population size, it received the 12th-highest number of applications: 15 per 10,000 residents.

In the same year, the UK granted asylum or another form of legal status to around 54,900 people (at initial decision, excluding appeals), placing it fourth in the league table. Spain ranked first on the number of asylum applicants (main applicants + dependants), with 141,000 people claiming asylum in 2025, while Germany ranked first in the number of protection grants, granting asylum-related protection to around 87,400 people at initial decision that year (Figure 16).

Adjusting for population size, the UK ranked 8th among the EU+, having granted protection in 2025 to 8 asylum seekers per 10,000 of its resident population.

Figure 16

Evidence Gaps and Limitations

We do not know how many people have ever been granted asylum or another form of asylum-related protection in the UK because published statistics go back only as far as 1979. Moreover, these published statistics only record the outcomes of initial decisions and not appeals, which increase the number of people who are ultimately granted asylum-related permission to stay. Similarly, there are no regularly published figures on how many asylum seekers make multiple claims for asylum over time, and how many apply for and receive legal status under human rights laws after being refused asylum.

Since YE September 2025, the government has started to publish data on asylum seekers, broken down by their method of entry into the UK. Among those who entered via authorised routes, it remains unclear how many of these people overstayed their visa and how many still held valid permission to stay at the time of their asylum claim.

We also do not know exactly how many cases or people are awaiting the outcome of an appeal following a first-instance refusal. The Home Office has occasionally published data on asylum “work in progress” (WIP), which is the broadest measure of the asylum backlog. It includes: (1) applicants awaiting an initial decision; (2) those awaiting the outcome of an appeal; (3) people recorded as having absconded; (4) cases treated as implicitly withdrawn because the applicant failed to complete an asylum questionnaire or attend a substantive interview; and (5) unsuccessful asylum applicants awaiting removal from the UK. The latest WIP data relate to 30 June 2024, and no updated figures have been published since. Data on the number of appeals lodged and determined are similarly out of date: the most recent published statistics cover only up to May 2023. As a result, it is currently difficult to assess the extent to which successful appeals affect overall asylum grant rates.

Data from the Ministry of Justice provide some indication of the scale of the appeals backlog, but they are not directly comparable with Home Office statistics. Home Office data include both main applicants and dependants, whereas Tribunal statistics include only principal appellants. Principal appellants may also include some people whom the Home Office classifies as dependants. In addition, Tribunal statistics use a broader definition of asylum appeals, encompassing some human rights cases as well as appeals relating to extensions of asylum, humanitarian protection, and discretionary leave.

There is also limited information on what happens to refused asylum seekers. Some depart with the assistance or oversight of the government, for which data are available. However, others depart without notifying the authorities or remain in the UK without permission (see the Migration Observatory briefing, Unauthorised migration in the UK).

Secure Research Service Data

• Office for National Statistics. (2024). Annual Population Survey Three-Year Pooled Dataset, January 2020 – December 2022. [data collection]. 2nd Edition. UK Data Service. SN: 9119, DOI: http://doi.org/10.5255/UKDA-SN-9119-2

Disclaimer

Part of this work was undertaken in the Office for National Statistics Secure Research Service, using data from ONS and other data owners, and does not imply the endorsement of the ONS or other data owners.

References

• Åslund, O., Engdahl, M. and Rosenqvist, O. (2024) ‘Limbo or leverage? Asylum waiting and refugee integration’, Journal of Public Economics, 234, p. 105118. Available at: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0047272724000549 (Accessed: 6 May 2026).
• Di Stasio, V., Lancee, B., Veit, S. and Yemane, R. (2023) ‘The gender employment gap among refugees and the role of employer discrimination: Experimental evidence from the German, Swedish and Austrian labor markets’, International Migration Review, 57(4), pp. 1161–1193. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/01979183221134274 (Accessed: 6 May 2026).
• Khoudja, Y. and Fleischmann, F. (2018) ‘Gender ideology and women’s labor market transitions within couples in the Netherlands’, Journal of Marriage and Family, 80(5), pp. 1087–1106. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/26647583 (Accessed: 6 May 2026).
• National Commission for Human Rights Pakistan (2024) Perilous Journeys: Unravelling Irregular Migration from Pakistan. Islamabad: NCHR Pakistan. Available at: https://reliefweb.int/report/pakistan/perilous-journeys-unravelling-irregular-migration-pakistan (Accessed: 6 May 2026).
• Refugee Action (2020) Waiting in the Dark: How the Asylum System Dehumanises, Disempowers and Damages. London: Refugee Action. Available at: https://www.refugee-action.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Waiting-in-the-Dark-Report.pdf (Accessed: 6 May 2026).
• Schieckoff, B. and Sprengholz, M. (2021) The labor market integration of immigrant women in Europe: Context, theory and evidence. Working Paper Series No. 02. Konstanz: University of Konstanz, Cluster of Excellence “The Politics of Inequality”. Available at: https://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:bsz:352-2-14p6dm0d1nmpr3 (Accessed: 6 May 2026).

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