National statistics

How many people come to the UK each year (including visitors)?

Updated 4 September 2023

‘Immigration system statistics, year ending March 2023’ contents page.

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Data relates to the year ending March 2023 and all comparisons are with the year ending March 2022 (unless indicated otherwise). Additional comparisons are also provided with the pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic period and for longer-term trends.

1. Passenger arrivals to the UK

There were an estimated 118 million passenger arrivals from outside the Common Travel Area (CTA) in the year ending March 2023 (including returning UK residents). This was almost 3 times (+174%) as many as in the year ending March 2022 (43 million), when UK and global travel restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic were still in place. The latest passenger arrivals number is around four-fifths of the total number of arrivals in 2019 (146 million), the period immediately before the COVID-19 outbreak.

Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic the Home Office published additional detailed statistics on air arrivals to the UK over a period when travel was severely reduced. A full account of the pattern in air passenger arrivals over the pandemic period can be found in the last edition of the report ‘Statistics relating to passenger arrivals since the COVID-19 outbreak’ (Home Office, August 2022).

2. Grants of Entry clearance visas to individuals outside the UK

Only certain nationalities (‘visa-nationals’) are required to obtain an entry clearance visa before coming to visit the UK, which is one reason why there are considerably more passenger arrivals than visas granted.

There were 3,057,654 visas granted in the year ending March 2023, 90% higher (1,449,071) than the year ending March 2022. This was primarily due to 944,957 (+155%) more grants of Visitor visas, but also due to more grants for:

• Work visas (including dependants), up 211,285 (+76%) to 487,771
• Study visas (including dependants), up 161,771 (+34%) to 632,006, including sponsored and short-term students

The increase in visitor visa grants is likely due to changes in international travel policy, specifically the phasing out of restrictions on travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Home Office has published additional analysis of the potential impact of changes to travel on work and study visas in ‘Recent changes to visa numbers in Home Office data’ (Home Office, February 2023).

Figure 1: Total entry clearance visas granted, year ending March 2014 to year ending March 2023

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02

Figure 1 shows that the total number of visas granted rose to a high of 3.2 million in 2019. The number then fell significantly due to the COVID-19 pandemic, to below one million. Figures have been increasing again and reached close to pre-pandemic levels in the year ending March 2023 with over 3 million visas granted.

Figure 2: Total entry clearance visas granted, by visa type, year ending March 2023

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02

Figure 2 shows of the visas granted in the latest 12 months:

• 51% were to visitors
• 21% were for students (including dependants)
• 16% were in work routes (including dependants)
• 3% were for family visas and permits
• 9% were for other reasons (including grants of leave on the Ukraine Schemes and the British National (overseas) route)

3. Visitors to the UK

Many nationalities, including US nationals do not normally require a visa to visit the UK; consequently, there are considerably fewer visitor visas granted than visitor arrivals.

For nationalities required to obtain a visa before visiting the UK, there were 2,012,116 applications for Visitor visas in the year ending March 2023, more than double (+132%) the number from the year ending March 2022. Visitor visa applications have continued to increase in the aftermath of the global COVID-19 pandemic but are still below the peak in the year ending December 2019 (2,758,933).

There were 1,554,667 Visitor visas granted in the year ending March 2023, around two-and-a-half times higher (+155%) than the year ending March 2022. Like applications, grants have continued to increase in the aftermath of the pandemic but are still below the peak in the year ending December 2019 (2,413,461).

The largest increases in the latest year were in grants to:

• Indian nationals, up 345,494 (+249%)
• Chinese nationals, up 86,899 (+436%)
• Turkish nationals, up 61,590 (+225%)
• South African nationals, up 58,894 (+238%)

Indian nationals accounted for the highest proportion (31%) of Visitor visas granted, followed by Chinese nationals (7%), Nigerian nationals (6%) and Turkish nationals (6%).

In the year ending March 2023, the Visitor visa “grant rate” (the proportion of outcomes that resulted in a grant) was 77%. In the year ending March 2020, the grant rate was 87%, and prior to this the grant rate was at a similar level on average each year (between 86% and 88%). The decrease in grant rate in the latest year compared to the year ending March 2020 is a result of the many fewer grants to Chinese (-478,654) and Russian (-109,171) nationals, and increases in refusals for Algerian, Indian and Nigerian nationals amongst others.

Additional information on visitors to the UK is published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) in its publication ‘Overseas travel and tourism statistics’.

4. Visa schemes for Ukrainians

During March 2022, the UK government introduced 2 new visa routes to allow persons affected by the crisis in Ukraine to come to the UK. Introduced on 4 March 2022, the Ukraine Family Scheme allows applicants to join family members or extend their stay in the UK. The Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme was introduced on 18 March 2022 and allows Ukrainian nationals and their family members to come to the UK if they have a named sponsor under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme.

Since their introduction in March 2022, there have been 283,366 applications for a visa under Ukraine Visa Schemes, of these 225,278 have been granted and 169,300 arrivals have been identified. In addition, there have been 24,593 extensions granted under the Ukraine Family Scheme and Ukraine Extension Scheme. Further information can be found in the ‘Statistics on Ukrainians in the UK’ chapter in this latest Home Office Immigration System Statistics.

5. British National Overseas (BN(O)) route

On 31 January 2021, the UK government introduced a new immigration route for British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) status holders from Hong Kong, providing the opportunity for them and their family members to live, work and study in the UK. Data for in country applications is taken from management information. Detailed datasets for out of country applications and grants in this route can be found in entry clearance visa applications and outcomes under the BN(O) route visa type, including breakdowns for main applicants and dependants.

There have been a total of 172,500 applications for the BN(O) route since its introduction on 31 January 2021 up to the end of March 2023. The initial 2 quarters when this route was first opened (January to March and April to June 2021) had the highest number of applications (33,100 and 30,200 respectively); since then, the number of applications has decreased and been stable from September 2022.

There were 11,800 BN(O) applications in the latest quarter, January to March 2023.

There have been a total of 139,144 grants of out of country BN(O) visas since its introduction on 31 January 2021 to the end of March 2023, and 113,500 people have arrived in the UK on the scheme since it began. There have been an additional 27,276 grants of BN(O) visas made within the UK since introduction of the BN(O) visa route on 31 January 2021.

There were 9,729 grants of out of country BN(O) visas in the latest quarter, January to March 2023, and 3,014 grants within the UK. 8,300 people arrived during this quarter.

There were 258 out-of-country BN(O) visa refusals, and 71 in-country BN(O) visa refusals between January and March 2023.

As expected, since the route launched the majority of grants (62%) were to BN(O) and/or Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) passport holders, with a further 37% being Chinese passport holders (many of whom will have been living in Hong Kong). For main applicants, 90% were HKSAR/BN(O) passport holders. For dependants, 77% were Chinese passport holders, and 21% were HKSAR/BN(O) passport holders.

6. About these statistics

The statistics in this section provide an indication of the number of people who enter the UK.

The data do not show whether, or when, an individual arrived in the UK, what they did on arrival to the UK or how long they stayed in the UK.

Many nationalities do not normally require a visa to visit the UK. As a result, they will be counted in the passenger arrivals data but not in the visa data. A list of designated nationalities referred to as ‘visa nationals’ who do require a visa to visit the UK can be found in Immigration Rules Appendix V: visitor rules.

For several reasons, data on passenger arrivals are not directly comparable with data on Entry clearance visas granted. A summary of what each dataset counts is provided in section 6.1 and section 6.2.

6.1 Passenger arrivals

Data on passenger arrivals relate to the number of arrivals into the UK. The data include British, EEA and Swiss nationals, as well as non-EEA nationals. For non-EEA nationals who are subject to immigration controls, more detailed information is available on their nationality and purpose of their journey up until 2018.

Passenger arrivals are counted each time an individual enters the UK. Where an individual enters the UK more than once in a period, they will be counted each time they enter (but if they arrive each time on the same visa, they will be counted once in the visas data).

Visitor arrivals data included in this topic are based on landing cards completed as people cross the border. In light of the introduction of new digital systems at the border, the use of landing cards was reviewed. The review resulted in the decision to remove the need for non-EEA nationals to complete a landing card on arrival into the UK. Further data relating to visitor arrivals will not be available until an alternative method of collection is developed.

BN(O) arrival figures are rounded to the nearest 100 and relate to individuals who arrived into the UK, where the arrival has been linked to an out of country BN(O) visa. Where individuals have multiple visits, only the first arrival after the BN(O) grant has been counted. This data therefore counts people, rather than arrivals. Individuals arriving during the latest quarter may have received their grant in an earlier quarter. The data used to record arrivals on a BN(O) visa may undercount the total number of arrivals. For example, arrivals of those travelling into the UK from the Common Travel Area (from Ireland) will not be captured in the data. See the Home Office statistics on exit checks: user guide for more details.

6.2 Entry clearance visas

Data on entry clearance visas in this section refer to the number of visas granted for all reasons within the period. References in the statistics to ‘visas’ will also include entry clearance ‘permits’, such as EEA and EU Settlement Scheme Family permits, or Frontier Worker permits. If an individual was granted multiple visas in a given period, this will be counted as multiple grants in the statistics. If an individual entered the UK multiple times within the period for which a visa was valid, this will be counted as one grant in the visa statistics, but multiple arrivals in the passenger arrivals data.

Year-on-year comparisons of the number of decisions can be affected by quarterly fluctuations in the data. Such fluctuations can be examined in more detail in the quarterly data that are available in the published tables.

Several known factors may have affected the number of applications and outcomes of visit-related visas over time. For example, the Home Office launched a 2-year Chinese visa pilot in January 2016 for Chinese nationals. The increase in longer-term Visitor visas may affect the number of subsequent re-applications by Chinese nationals.

More information on non-visitor arrival and visa data by category is included in ʻWhy do people come to the UK? To work’, ʻWhy do people come to the UK? To study’ and ʻWhy do people come to the UK? For family reasons’.

In January 2021, the UK government introduced a new immigration route for British National (Overseas) (BN(O)) status holders, providing the opportunity for them and their family members to live, work and study in the UK. This route opened on 31 January 2021 and is open to individuals who hold a BN(O) passport and are, or have recently been, resident in Hong Kong, and their dependants.

7. Data tables

• Sponsorship summary tables
• Detailed sponsorship datasets
• Entry clearance visas summary tables
• Detailed Entry clearance visas datasets
• Admissions summary tables

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