Research and analysis

Refugee Integration Outcomes (RIO): Employment from 2015 to 2023

Employment rate, working hours and earnings of asylum refugees and resettlement refugees between 2015 and 2023.

Applies to England and Wales

Documents

How many refugees are in employment: data tables

How many hours do refugees work: data tables

Details

The Refugee Integration Outcomes (RIO) longitudinal cohort study links Home Office data with administrative data from across government. This release includes analysis of linked HMRC data to understand how refugee employment outcomes change over time.

The analysis looks at employment rate, working hours and income by arrival route, sex, nationality and age.

Findings show that employment rates among refugees who were granted asylum or resettled to the UK between 2015 and 2023 increased quickly after gaining status but plateaued after 2 years at around 48%.

Median earnings for employed refugees reach £10,000 for part-time workers and those not working a regular pattern of hours and £23,000 for full-time workers.

Please direct any questions about the RIO project to refugeeintegrationoutcomes@homeoffice.gov.uk.

Updates to this page

Published 27 November 2025

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