How many people come to the UK irregularly?
Published 21 August 2025
© Crown copyright 2025
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-june-2025/how-many-people-come-to-the-uk-irregularly
Back to ‘Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2025’ content page.
Data relates to the year ending June 2025 and all comparisons are with the year ending June 2024 (unless indicated otherwise).
Additional information is provided in the ‘About the statistics’ section and in the user guide.
1. Irregular arrivals
Not all irregular arrivals will be detected and the proportion of arrivals detected will vary by method. Therefore, it is not advisable to directly compare recorded detection numbers on different methods of entry. However, some broad trends can be observed.
There was an increase in the number of irregular arrivals in the latest year, due to an increase in small boat arrivals.
In the year ending June 2025, there were 49,341 detected irregular arrivals, 27% more than in the previous year, and 88% of these arrived on small boats. Small boats have been the predominant recorded entry method for irregular arrivals since 2020, when detections on this method increased rapidly and detections on other methods declined (likely in part due to the COVID-19 pandemic making other methods of entry, such as air or ferry, less viable). Small boat arrivals are also the most visible of the irregular methods of entry, so the most likely to be recorded, and numbers have remained high even as other routes have become more viable again.
Apart from small boats, other irregular arrivals comprised of inadequately documented air arrivals (7% in the latest year), recorded detections in the UK within 72 hours of arrival (5%), and recorded detections at UK ports (1%):
- the number of inadequately documented air arrivals has been between 3,200 and 5,300 each year since 2018, except for 2020 and 2021 when numbers were lower due to COVID-19 travel restrictions
- there were 2,409 people detected irregularly within the UK, within 72 hours of arrival, in the year ending June 2025, almost three-quarters (71%) fewer than the recent peak of 8,239 in 2019 - many of these will have arrived clandestinely, for example in a vehicle or on a ferry
- the number of recorded detections at UK ports in the year ending June 2025 (357) has decreased by two-thirds (66%) since 2018
Figure 1: Detections of irregular arrivals to the UK, by method of entry, January 2018 to June 2025
Source: Irregular migration to the UK detailed dataset, year ending June 2025 - Irr_D01
1.1. Nationalities and demographics of arrivals
Since 2018, the majority of people detected arriving irregularly have been adult males aged 18 and over.
Since January 2018, three-quarters (75%) of small boat arrivals have been adult males aged 18 and over. Almost one-sixth (16%) of detected small boat arrivals have been children aged 17 and under. These proportions have generally been similar each year; however, in the first 6 months of 2025, only 10% of detected small boat arrivals were children. Changes in the proportions of different age groups and sexes of people arriving by small boat may partly relate to changes in nationalities (see Section 2.3 for more detail on small boat arrivals by nationality).
Over half (55%) of detected irregular arrivals to the UK in the year ending June 2025 were from 5 nationalities (Afghans, Eritreans, Iranians, Sudanese and Syrians).
The most common nationality detected irregularly arriving in the latest year were Afghans (6,589 irregular arrivals), of whom 97% arrived on small boats (see Section 2.3).
Eritrean, Iranian, Sudanese and Syrian nationals were in the top 5 most common nationalities detected arriving in the UK for multiple irregular methods of entry. Iranians were the most common nationality arriving inadequately documented by air (674 arrivals) and Sudanese nationals the most common nationality detected irregularly in the UK (432 detections). The most common nationality detected arriving irregularly at UK ports were Albanians (83 detections).
For most of the nationalities in Table 1, their most common irregular method of entry was on small boats, reflecting the dominance of that method as a route for irregular entry (see Section 2.3). However, for Georgian and Chinese nationals, the most common irregular method of entry was by air.
Financial, social, physical and geographical factors may influence the method of entry individuals use and the types of individuals detected arriving. These factors may also change over time.
Table 1: Top 5 most common nationalities detected arriving by each irregular method of entry, in the year ending June 20251,2,3
| Small boat arrivals (% of total) | Inadequately documented air arrivals (% of total) | Recorded detections in the UK (% of total) | Recorded detections at UK ports (% of total) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan, 15% |
Iran, 21% |
Sudan, 18% |
Albania, 23% |
|
| Eritrea, 14% |
Georgia, 12% |
Iran, 15% |
India, 14% |
|
| Iran, 10% |
Stateless, 12% |
Iraq, 13% |
Pakistan, 11% |
|
| Syria, 9% |
Sri Lanka, 9% |
Eritrea, 11% |
Turkey, 9% |
|
| Sudan, 9% |
China, 8% |
Syria, 7% |
Sudan, 6% |
|
| Total | 42,446 | 3,266 | 2,409 | 357 |
Source: Irregular migration to the UK detailed dataset, year ending June 2025 - Irr_D01
Notes:
- The top nationalities are those with the highest number of detected irregular arrivals for each separate method of entry in the year ending June 2025.
- Excludes small boat arrivals labelled as ‘Not currently recorded’, for whom information on nationality is not yet available.
- The nationality recorded as stateless includes those officially recognised as stateless, including those recognised as Kuwaiti Bidoon.
2. Small boat arrivals
2.1. Number of small boat arrivals
Statistics on small boat arrivals include individuals who were detected on arrival to the UK, detected in the Channel and subsequently brought to the UK, and those encountered in the UK who were suspected of having arrived on a small boat within the previous 72 hours. They do not include any people who arrived on larger vessels (such as a ferry), those who arrived in the UK undetected, or those prevented from departing France or intercepted by French authorities and returned to France (see the ‘user guide’). A weekly summary of small boat arrivals and preventions is published separately by the Home Office.
In the year ending June 2025, 43,309 people were recorded as arriving in the UK on small boats, 5% fewer than the peak in 2022, but 38% more than in the year ending June 2024.
Small boat arrivals were relatively low from 2018 to 2020, with 10,608 arrivals in total across these 3 years. However, since 2021 there have been between 29,000 and 46,000 small boat arrivals each year, with the highest number of arrivals in 2022.
Small boat arrival numbers fluctuate daily, often due to changes in the weather. Warmer summer months typically see higher numbers due to more favourable crossing conditions. Comparisons of arrivals between months or years should take this seasonality and differences in weather conditions into account and we do not advise making comparisons between short periods or different times of the year. Additional research on small boat activity compared to the forecasted wave height and other environmental and non-environmental factors, was published in the Small boat arrivals and the impact of crossing conditions note on GOV.UK.
See Sections 2.2 and 2.3 for more information on how the average number of people per boat and nationalities of small boat arrivals has changed in 2025 and Small boat activity in the English Channel - GOV.UK for the latest daily data on people arriving by small boat.
Figure 2: Yearly and quarterly numbers of small boat arrivals, year ending December 2018 to year ending June 2025
Source: Irregular migration to the UK detailed dataset, year ending June 2025 - Irr_D01
2.2. Number of boats and people per boat
The average number of people per boat has increased year on year since 2018.
Figure 3: Monthly numbers of small boats arriving and average number of people per boat, January 2018 to June 2025
Source: Irregular migration to the UK summary tables, year ending June 2025 - Irr_02a
The average number of people per small boat has increased each year, to 56 people per boat in the year ending June 2025 compared with 51 people per boat in the year ending June 2024. The month of June 2025 saw an average of 65 people per boat, the highest monthly average on record. Consequently, the number of small boat arrivals in the year ending June 2025 was only 5% fewer than the peak in 2022, despite there being 31% fewer boats.
2.3. Nationalities of small boat arrivals
The top 5 most common nationalities (Afghan, Eritrean, Iranian, Syrian and Sudanese) arriving on small boats in the year ending June 2025 accounted for almost three-fifths of all small boat arrivals in that period.
Afghans were the most common nationality arriving by small boat in the year ending June 2025, with the number of Afghan arrivals at 6,360, 18% higher than the previous year. This number was however lower than the peak of 9,088 Afghan arrivals in 2022 (Figure 4).
Eritrea was the second highest nationality arriving by small boat in the year ending June 2025, with 5,975 arrivals, more than double the previous year.
From January to June 2025, Eritrean nationals were the most common nationality arriving by small boat, accounting for 18% of small boat arrivals. Sudanese and Somali nationals arriving by small boat also increased in the first 6 months of 2025, and were the third and fourth most common nationalities arriving by small boats in this period.
In contrast, the number of Syrian nationals arriving by small boat in January to June 2025 (686 arrivals) was around half that in the equivalent period of 2024. This reduction follows the fall of the Assad regime in December 2024.
Additionally, the number of Vietnamese nationals arriving by small boat in January to June 2025 (1,026 arrivals) was less than half the number in the equivalent period of 2024. In April 2024, the UK signed an agreement with Vietnam to increase cooperation on dealing with irregular migration, and the government are continuing to work with Vietnam, signing a joint communique and a new joint action plan to reduce human trafficking in March 2025.
The number of different nationalities arriving on small boats initially increased as small boat arrivals increased. In the year ending June 2019, there were 8 different nationalities arriving by small boat compared to 75 different nationalities in 2022 (the peak year for small boat arrivals). The number of different nationalities has since remained relatively constant, until the year ending June 2025 when this increased to 82 different nationalities.
Additionally, whilst only one nationality (Iranians) accounted for just over two-thirds of arrivals in the year ending June 2019, 7 different nationalities made up the same proportion of year ending June 2025 small boat arrivals.
Figure 4: Most common nationalities arriving on small boats, year ending December 2018 to year ending June 20251,2
Source: Irregular migration to the UK detailed dataset, year ending June 2025 - Irr_D01
Notes:
- The 5 most common nationalities of small boat arrivals in the year ending June 2025 plus Albania. Albania has been presented to reflect that it was a nationality with a large number of small boat arrivals over recent years but is no longer a top 5 nationality.
- Excludes arrivals where information on nationality was not recorded in the dataset.
3. Asylum claims from small boat arrivals
The vast majority of small boat arrivals claimed asylum, but small boat arrivals accounted for less than two-fifths of the total number of people claiming asylum in the UK in the year ending June 2025.
Since 2018, 95% of the people arriving in the UK on a small boat have claimed asylum. Of the 159,180 small boat arrivals claiming asylum since 2018, around three-fifths (61% or 96,831) had received a substantive decision (as of 16 July 2025, when the data used in this release was taken). Of these, 61,706 were granted asylum or some other protection status, and 35,125 were refused.
The claims from a further 20,877 people were withdrawn by the claimant or by the Home Office before an initial decision. Such claims are not normally included in grant rate calculations as they are not substantive decisions on the claim itself. However, if we include withdrawals, then just over half (52%) of the total number of small boat asylum claims that have been resolved resulted in a grant of asylum or some other protection status.
The number of small boat arrivals with an initial decision on their asylum claim will change as more individuals have their claims processed. Cases where the person claiming asylum arrived irregularly since 7 March 2023 previously fell under the criteria set out in the Illegal Migration Act, which meant they could not have their asylum claims considered. However, on 22 July 2024, the Home Secretary changed the law to remove the retrospective application of the Illegal Migration Act. Consequently, decision making on claims from individuals who arrived in the UK after 7 March 2023 has resumed.
Table 2: Small boat arrivals claiming asylum and initial decision outcomes on their claims, by arrival date, January 2018 to June 20251,2,3,4,5
| January 2018 to June 2025 (people) | January 2018 to June 2025 (cases) | |
|---|---|---|
| Small boat arrivals | 168,076 | Not applicable |
| Asylum claims | 159,180 | 144,511 |
| Awaiting a decision | 32,056 | 29,016 |
| Received an initial decision (% of claims) | 96,831 (61%) |
86,694 (60%) |
| of which: | ||
| granted refugee status or other leave (grant rate) |
61,706 | 56,030 (65%) |
| refused | 35,125 | 30,664 |
| Withdrawn | 20,877 | 20,093 |
| Received an administrative outcome | 9,416 | 8,708 |
Source: Irregular migration to the UK detailed dataset, year ending June 2025 - Irr_D02 and Irr_D03
Notes:
- People includes main applicants and dependants, whereas cases include main applicants only.
- The time periods relate to the date of the small boat arrival, not the date of the asylum claim or outcome.
- Claims granted include grants of refugee status, humanitarian protection and other forms of leave.
- Grant rate is the percentage of claims that resulted in a grant of protection or some form of leave at initial decision, excluding withdrawn claims and claims which received an administrative outcome.
- There may be a small number of arrivals who claimed asylum but are not included in these figures as their small boat arrival and asylum records could not be matched properly, for example small boat arrivals for whom more detailed information is not currently recorded.
More detail on all asylum claims is available in the ‘How many people claim asylum in the UK?’ chapter and more detail on the outcomes of asylum claims is available in the ‘How many people are granted asylum in the UK?’ chapter of the Immigration system statistics quarterly release, including definitions on asylum case outcome types in the asylum detailed datasets. Figures for asylum claims from small boat arrivals in the irregular migration datasets may differ from those in ‘Asy_D01a’ (and corresponding summary tables). This is due to differences in extraction dates from a live database and differences in recording methods. The Irregular migration datasets are published based on the date of arrival, while the Asylum claims datasets are published based on the date of claim.
For information on returns of small boat arrivals (and all returns from the UK), see the ‘How many people are returned from the UK?’ chapter of the Immigration system statistics quarterly release.
4. Potential victims of modern slavery
The number of small boat arrivals referred to the National Referral Mechanism is published annually and data for 2025 small boat arrivals will be published in May 2026. The figures below are for 2018 to 2024 small boat arrivals and have been revised since they were first published in February 2025 to include referrals and decisions made since then.
Modern slavery includes any form of human trafficking, slavery, servitude or forced labour. Potential victims of modern slavery in the UK are referred to the National Referral Mechanism (NRM) by designated First Responder Organisations (including local authorities, police forces, specified non-governmental organisations, and parts of the Home Office such as Border Force). For more information on NRM referrals, see the ‘user guide’. For statistics on all modern slavery referrals (not just those relating to people arriving on small boats), see the ‘National Referral Mechanism statistics’.
4.1. Small boat arrivals with modern slavery referrals
Of the 148,526 small boat arrivals between 2018 and 2024, 18,063 people were referred to the NRM (12%).
The number of small boat arrivals in each year with NRM referrals may increase, as time will allow more people to be identified as potential victims and be referred into the NRM.
4.2. Outcomes of small boat modern slavery referrals
Individuals referred to the NRM receive decisions on 2 grounds: reasonable grounds and conclusive grounds.
A positive reasonable grounds decision means the decision-maker must agree with the statement that there are “reasonable grounds to believe that a person is a victim of modern slavery”. This takes the victim’s account into consideration and any other relevant information, and considers whether, in the circumstances of the case, it is reasonable to expect supporting information to be available.
Following a positive reasonable grounds decision, a conclusive grounds decision will be made. A positive conclusive grounds decision indicates that, on the balance of probabilities, there is sufficient information to consider the individual is a victim of modern slavery.
Disqualification requests can be made for individuals if they are deemed to have met criteria for disqualification from the NRM. These criteria may be based on either grounds of public order, bad faith, or if the individual has already received a support period in the NRM. Individuals may only be disqualified after they have received a positive reasonable grounds decision. For more information, see the published guidance for modern slavery.
In 2024, almost two-thirds of reasonable grounds decisions issued were negative.
This follows amendments made to the reasonable grounds test in January 2023. For more information see the ‘National Referral Mechanism statistics’.
Just over half of conclusive grounds decisions issued to people arriving by small boat between 2018 and 2024 were negative, meaning they were not deemed to be a victim of modern slavery.
Most small boat arrivals with NRM referrals have received a reasonable grounds decision. However, just over one-quarter of those who have received a positive reasonable grounds decision have not yet received a conclusive grounds decision, as conclusive grounds decisions take considerably longer (table 3). More recent periods naturally have a higher proportion awaiting a conclusive grounds decision, as less time has passed for a decision to be made.
Table 3: Outcomes of small boat modern slavery referrals, by arrival date, January 2018 to December 20241,2,3,4,5
| January 2018 to December 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|
| Small boat arrivals | 112,449 | 36,077 |
| Arrivals with NRM referrals | 13,417 | 4,646 |
| Reasonable grounds (RG) decisions | 12,308 | 4,493 |
| Positive (%) | 7,273 (59%) |
1,589 (35%) |
| Negative (%) | 5,035 (41%) |
2,904 (65%) |
| Awaiting RG decision | 25 | 39 |
| Conclusive grounds (CG) decisions | 5,675 | 699 |
| Positive (%) | 2,733 (48%) |
353 (51%) |
| Negative (%) | 2,942 (52%) |
346 (49%) |
| Awaiting CG decision | 1,542 | 884 |
| Referrals withdrawn / closed | 1,097 | 100 |
| Awaiting reconsideration | 43 | 20 |
Source: Irregular migration to the UK detailed dataset, year ending June 2025 - Irr_D04 and Irr_D05
Notes:
- The time periods relate to the date of the small boat arrival, not the date of NRM referral or decision. NRM referrals can be made at any stage after arrival into the UK.
- Individuals referred to the NRM receive decisions on 2 grounds: reasonable grounds and conclusive grounds. Therefore, individuals will be counted in multiple groups shown in the table. For example, those who are awaiting, or have received, a conclusive grounds decision will have previously received a positive reasonable grounds decision. Some individuals who are awaiting reconsideration and some of those whose referrals have since been withdrawn / closed will also have previously received a positive reasonable grounds decision.
- Referrals withdrawn / closed includes some claims where contact with the individual has been lost. These may be reopened if the individual makes contact in future.
- Claims awaiting reconsideration includes both those awaiting a new reasonable grounds decision and those awaiting a new conclusive grounds decision.
- Total small boat arrivals in this section on NRM referrals will differ slightly from the total small boat arrivals cited elsewhere in this publication due to differences in the dates on which data was extracted.
5. About the statistics
The Irregular Migration statistics were designated as ‘Official Statistics’ from February 2022. For more information, please see Section 11.5 of the Immigration system statistics user guide.
The underlying casework systems on which this data is based are undergoing a process of change and therefore the published numbers may change in future quarters. For more information see section 2.7 of the Immigration system statistics user guide.
All statistics in this chapter relate to people who come to the UK irregularly. It includes those arriving on a small boat across the English Channel (a ‘small boat arrival’), along with some other groups arriving without prior lawful permission.
The statistics presented here relate to the number of people detected on, or shortly after, arrival to the UK through various irregular methods of entry. They do not include all those who enter the UK through irregular methods, nor the number of people currently present in the UK irregularly. It is not possible to know the exact number of people currently resident in the UK without permission, nor the total number of people who enter the UK irregularly, and so we have not produced any official estimates for this number.
This is because:
- some people will successfully evade border controls and remain in the UK undetected
- some people may enter the UK on regular routes and their status subsequently becomes ‘irregular’ – for example, if they overstay a visa (it should be noted that there are a number of ways in which a person’s departure from the UK may legitimately not be recorded on the system)
- the data sources available count the number of recorded detections - in some instances the same person may be detected multiple times, either for the same method of entry or across different methods of entry (such individuals will be counted multiple times in the statistics)
- some people may enter the UK irregularly but obtain ‘regular’ status – for example, following a successful asylum claim
Figures on detections may be affected by the levels of operational activity at the border and overseas, so should not be used to infer levels of irregular migration. Changes in detection could be a result of changes in operational activity as well as changes in the number of people attempting to enter the UK irregularly and recording practices.
Some people seek to enter the UK without valid permission but are prevented from reaching the UK border (for example, at the juxtaposed controls in France and Belgium, or further afield, if prevented from travelling). Prevented attempts are not reported in this chapter. However, a weekly summary of small boat arrivals and preventions is published separately by the Home Office, including definitions of what these figures include. This data on small boat preventions can be used to provide more context on people attempting to cross the English Channel in small boats. Any counts of arrivals and attempted entries may relate to multiple arrivals or attempts by the same individual, and therefore will not relate to numbers of people.
For more information on the data in this chapter, please see the ‘user guide’.
6. Data tables
Data referred to here can be found in the following tables:
We welcome your feedback
If you have any comments or suggestions for the development of this report, please provide feedback by emailing MigrationStatsEnquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk. Please include the words ‘PUBLICATION FEEDBACK’ in the subject of your email.
We’re always looking to improve the accessibility of our documents. If you find any problems or have any feedback relating to accessibility, please email us.
See Section 6 of the ‘About this release’ section for more details.