Accredited official statistics

How many people are returned from the UK?

Published 21 August 2025

Back to ‘Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2025’ content page.

Data on returns relates to year ending June 2025 and all comparisons are with year ending June 2024 (unless indicated otherwise).

Additional information is provided in the ‘About the statistics’ section and in the user guide.

1. Returns

The Home Office seeks to return people who do not have a legal right to stay in the UK to another country. Returns are reported in 3 main groups:

• enforced returns (people subject to administrative removal or deportation action which is carried out by the Home Office)
• voluntary returns (people who were liable to removal action or subject to immigration control but have left of their own accord, sometimes with support from the Home Office)
• port returns (people who are refused entry to the UK at a place of arrival and have subsequently departed)

Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) returned, asylum-related returns (including failed asylum seekers) and the return of small boat arrivals, can appear in enforced, voluntary and port return categories. These are counted in those numbers as well as being reported separately in Section 5 and Section 6 respectively.

Figure 1: Returns from the UK, by type of return, 2010 to year ending June 2025

Source: Returns - Ret_D01

2. Enforced returns

Enforced returns have increased in the year ending June 2025, returning to similar levels to those recorded in 2018.

The number of Returns from the UK and illegal working activity since 5 July 2024 is reported separately.

Figure 1 shows enforced returns have increased steadily following the low number of returns during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021. Enforced returns in the year ending June 2025 (9,072) are 25% higher than the previous year (7,253) and have now returned to similar levels to 2018 (9,236).

The recent rise in enforced returns may have been partially driven by the resumption of certain categories of asylum processing after July 2024 to address the backlog. Moreover, reallocating 1,000 staff to immigration enforcement may have also contributed to an increased number of returns. These initiatives are part of the government’s Plan for Change, aiming to ‘secure borders’ through increasing the number of returns, among other measures.

Albanian nationals were the most common nationality of enforced returns over the last 4 years and accounted for 28% (2,562) in the latest 12 months. Enforced returns of Albanian nationals increased following the signing of the UK Albanian Joint Communique in December 2022, which was a response to the substantial numbers of Albanian small boat arrivals in 2022.

Despite the prominence of Albanian nationals in enforced returns over the last 4 years, numbers have started falling more recently, down 9% in the year ending June 2025 compared with the previous year. Enforced returns of other prominent nationalities, however, have increased, with numbers of Romanians up 28% (1,696), Brazilians up 90% (861) and Indians having more than doubled (615) over the same period. There has also been a substantial rise in the latest year of returns of Polish, Malaysian, and Pakistani nationals.

Figure 2: Enforced returns from the UK, by nationality¹; year ending June 2021 to year ending June 2025

Source: Returns - Ret_D01

Notes:

1. Nationalities shown are the top 5 most common nationalities for enforced returns in the latest 12-month period.

Detention was used to facilitate the majority (95%) of enforced returns in the year ending June 2025. For information about detention statistics and trends please see the ‘How many people are detained under immigration powers in the UK’ topic.

3. Voluntary returns

Voluntary returns increased in the latest year, exceeding the levels recorded in 2017.

In the year ending June 2025 there were 26,761 voluntary returns, up by 13% compared to the year ending June 2024. As shown in Figure 1, voluntary return numbers have continued to rise following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic and now exceed pre-pandemic levels, although are still below the levels in the first half of the previous decade.

Together, voluntary returns of Indians (7,617), Brazilians (4,810) and Albanians (2,198) accounted for just over half (55%) of all voluntary returns in the year ending June 2025. Indian and Brazilian voluntary returns increased by 33% and 49% respectively compared to the year ending June 2024, whereas voluntary returns of Albanians decreased by 41% over the same period.

These statistics categorise voluntary returns in 3 different ways: those made with assistance from the Home Office, including via the Voluntary Returns Service (‘assisted returns’); returns made where the Home Office was notified of the departure, in the form of self-funded (‘controlled’) returns; and those discovered through matching our database against passenger departures data (‘other verified returns’). Definitions of returns subcategories can be found in the glossary section of the user guide.

Approximately half (46%) of all voluntary returns were those who departed the UK without informing the Home Office. There were 9,227 returns assisted by the Home Office in the year ending June 2025, more than double the number in the previous year.

4. Refusals of entry at port and subsequent return (port returns)

Port returns have declined over the last year, and are similar to levels seen in the year ending June 2019.

There were 20,728 port returns in the year ending June 2025, 13% fewer than the previous year. The gradual decline in port returns over the last 2 years follows a sharp increase following 2020 restrictions.

UK Border Force take decisions to stop passengers on arrival based on the information that they receive. Nationality does not play a part in these decisions, but the nationalities of those refused entry at ports and subsequently returned has changed since 2020.

Non-visa nationals such as those from EU countries can be refused entry because they do not have the necessary immigration permission to carry out the activities they intend to undertake while they are in the UK.

Prior to the end of Freedom of Movement with the EU, port returns of EU nationals accounted for between 6% and 21% of all port returns between 2012 and 2020. However, in the year ending June 2025 EU nationals accounted for more than half (56%) of all those refused entry and subsequently returned. Romanians have been the top EU nationality for port returns since 2012, making up over a quarter (28%) of the year ending June 2025 total port returns.

5. Returns of foreign national offenders (FNOs)

Total FNO returns include enforced, voluntary and port returns. FNOs that are returned may have arrived in the UK some years earlier and have lived in the UK for some time prior to their conviction and subsequent return.

Returns of FNOs have been increasing since 2021, with the year ending June 2025 now similar to levels seen in the year ending June 2019.

There were 5,265 FNO returns in the year ending June 2025, an increase of 16% compared to the previous year. FNO returns are almost evenly split between EU (48%) and Non-EU (52%) nationals.

Figure 3 shows that Albanian nationals represented the most common nationality for FNO returns in each of the last 4 years. The UK-Albania Joint Communique signed in December 2022 strengthened data sharing between the UK and Albania and has supported the removal of Albanian national offenders.

Romanian, Polish, Lithuanian and Malaysian nationals additionally make up the top 5 most common nationalities of foreign offenders returned from the UK in the year ending June 2025 (See Figure 3). Albanian, Romanian, Polish and Lithuanians are also some of the most common foreign nationalities in prisons in England and Wales for criminal offences according to the latest prison population statistics from the Ministry of Justice and HM Prison and Probation Service.

The Early Removal Scheme (ERS) enables the removal or deportation of FNOs at an earlier point in their sentence than would otherwise be possible. This scheme was extended in January 2024 to include FNOs who had up to 18 months remaining on their sentence, rather than those with just 12 months or less, increasing the pool of FNOs eligible for early return. For more information please see the policy timeline document accompanying this release. For ERS return statistics since July 2024, please see the ‘Returns from the UK and illegal working activity since July 2024’ statistical release.

In addition, the Facilitated return scheme (FRS) is a voluntary Home Office scheme established in 2006 which supports FNOs to leave the UK at the earliest possible opportunity and resettle in their home country. The FRS provides financial support for reintegration to encourage FNOs to cooperate with their early removal from the UK.

Figure 3: Returns of FNOs¹ from the UK, by nationality²; year ending June 2021 to year ending June 2025

Source: Returns - Ret_D03

Notes:

1. An FNO is someone who is not a British citizen and is, or was, convicted in the UK of any criminal offence, or convicted abroad for a serious criminal offence.
2. Nationalities shown are the top 5 nationalities for FNO returns in the latest 12-month period.

Returns of FNOs averaged around 5,500 per year during the period from 2010 to 2019. FNO returns reached a peak in 2016 at 6,437, subsequently falling to below 3,000 per year during the pandemic in 2020 to 2021. Since then, returns of FNOs have been gradually increasing, although in the latest year were still 18% below the 2016 peak.

6. Asylum-related returns

Asylum-related returns relate to cases where there has been an asylum claim or further submission at some stage prior to the return. This will include asylum seekers whose asylum claims have been withdrawn, refused and who have exhausted any rights of appeal, those returned under third-country provisions, as well as a small number of those granted asylum/protection but who had to be removed for other reasons, (such as criminality).

Asylum-related returns include enforced, voluntary and port returns, unless stated otherwise.

Enforced and voluntary asylum-related returns in the year ending June 2025 continue to rise from the previous year, up substantially since 2021.

In the year ending June 2025, there were 10,652 asylum-related returns, 31% more than in the year ending June 2024. Just over a quarter (29%) of total enforced and voluntary returns were asylum-related – a proportion that has risen steadily since 2021 (15%). Enforced and voluntary asylum-related returns has returned to levels of activity in 2010, down only 1%. This rise may be partially driven by the resumption of certain categories of asylum processing after July 2024 to address the asylum backlog.

Albanians accounted for almost a third (32% or 3,369) of asylum-related returns in the year ending June 2025. Brazilian (1,543), Indian (911), Colombian (381) and Pakistani (336) nationals are the most common nationalities for asylum related returns. For more information on asylum case processing, please see the ‘How many people are granted asylum in the UK?’ topic.

Figure 4: Asylum-related returns from the UK; 2010 to year ending June 2025

Source: Subset of data in Returns - Ret_05

6.1 Small boat returns

Small boat returns have increased since 2018 but have fallen in the latest year.

In the year ending June 2025, there were 2,330 returns of people who had arrived by small boat, 7% fewer than the previous year.

Of the small boat returns in the latest year, 75% were of Albanian nationals (Figure 5). Turkish and Iraqi nationals are the two next most common nationalities, together accounting for 12% of small boat returns.

A total of 6,313 people who arrived on a small boat between 2018 and the year ending June 2025 have been returned from the UK, representing 4% of the total number of small boat arrivals over the same period. However, the vast majority (95%) of small boat arrivals claim asylum and it will take time for their claim to be assessed. Of the 159,180 small boat arrivals who have claimed asylum since 2018, just over one third (35%) were refused or their application was withdrawn.

Returns to certain countries, including Afghanistan which was the most common nationality to arrive in the UK by small boat in the year ending June 2025, are currently on hold. See Home Office ‘Country returns guides’ for more information on the returns process for individual countries of origin.

Further information about small boat arrivals can be found in the ‘How many people come to the UK irregularly?’ chapter and information on how long people wait for an asylum decision can be found in the chapter ‘How many cases are in the UK asylum system?’

Figure 5: Returns of small boat arrivals of Albanians and other nationalities, by quarter of return, 2018 to Q2 2025

Source: Subset of data in Returns - Ret_06

7. About the statistics

The latest 8 quarters of data are revised in each release. Therefore, data for the most recent 8 quarters should be considered provisional.

Data on voluntary returns is subject to upward revision, so comparisons over time should be made with caution. In some cases, 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. ‘Other verified returns’ are particularly affected by this. Further details on the revisions can be found in the returns section of the user guide.

The statistics in this section show the number of returns from the UK. One individual may have been returned more than once in a given period and, if that was the case, would be counted more than once in the statistics.

The Home Office seeks to return people who do not have a legal right to stay in the UK. This includes people who:

• enter, or attempt to enter, the UK illegally (including people entering irregularly and by means of deception on entry)
• are subject to deportation action; for example, due to a serious criminal conviction
• overstay their period of legal right to remain in the UK
• breach their conditions of leave
• have been refused asylum

The published statistics refer to enforced returns which include deportations, as well as cases where a person has breached UK immigration laws, and those removed under other administrative and illegal entry powers that have declined to leave voluntarily.

As outlined in this intention to publish statement released by the Home Office in April, following upgrades to FNO data collection and infrastructure currently underway, the Home Office proposes to publish additional statistical reporting later in the year on FNOs in the immigration system.

8. Data tables

Data referred to here can be found in the following tables:

• Returns summary tables
• Detailed returns datasets

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See Section 6 of the ‘About this release’ section for more details.