Transparency data

Returns from the UK between July and October 2024

Published 4 November 2024

This note provides an overview of the number of people who have been returned from the UK since early July. It is intended to provide the public with clear and timely statistics in an area of high public interest.  

The statistics are provisional and taken from live operational systems at the end of October 2024 [29 October 2024] and as a result, figures are subject to change. The Home Office will publish full statistics relating to the number of returns between July and September 2024 in the next Immigration system statistics quarterly release on 28 November 2024. 

Between 5 July and 28 October 2024, a total of 9,400 returns were recorded (including both enforced and voluntary returns). Of which, there were 2,590 enforced returns of people with no legal right to remain in the UK. This compares with 2,170 enforced returns over the same period in 2023, an increase of 19%. 

Of the total returns, 1,520 enforced and voluntary returns were of foreign national offenders (FNOs), this is an increase of 14% compared to 1,330 FNO returns in the same period of 2023.

Official Statistics relating to the number of returns from the UK can be found in the ‘How many people are detained or returned?’ section of the Immigration system statistics quarterly release

Revisions to the statistics

The data on returns is subject to upward revision. This is because some individuals who have been told to leave the UK will not notify the Home Office of their departure from the UK. In such cases, it can take some time for the Home Office to become aware of such a departure and update the system. As a result, data for more recent periods will initially undercount the total number of returns and will increase as additional cases are retrospectively recorded. ‘Other verified returns’ (a subset of voluntary returns) are particularly affected by this. For this reason, comparisons of more recent periods to earlier periods should be made with caution.