Accredited official statistics

Summary of latest statistics

Published 22 May 2025

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

This Accredited Official Statistics publication provides comprehensive statistics on the operation of the UK immigration system.

The UK immigration system undertakes a wide range of activities including issuing visas to those outside of the UK, changes to visas, and grants of settlement and citizenship to those already in the UK, plus providing safe and legal (humanitarian) routes of entry, as well as granting asylum and carrying out enforcement action. Figure 1 illustrates the different aspects of the immigration system and provides the numbers of people dealt with by each in the latest year.

Figure 1: Summary of the UK immigration system, year ending March 2025

Notes:

1. This diagram is a simplification and doesn’t include all parts of the immigration system, such as people crossing the border who do not require a visa, or irregular arrivals. Data in different parts of the immigration system is not always comparable.

2. The EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) figure relates to grants of settled status and pre-settled status, in year ending March 2025.

1. How many people come to the UK?

Key statistics:

In the year ending March 2025 there were 133.4 million arrivals to the UK. The majority (56%) were British nationals. Of the non-British arrivals, most will be short-term visitors, with smaller numbers arriving for other reasons such as work, study, family and humanitarian.

There are a number of ways a non-British national may receive permission to come to the UK:

• visa nationals must apply online for an entry clearance visa in advance of travel to visit or transit the UK – there were 2.2 million visitor visas granted and 17,000 transit visas in the year ending March 2025

• since October 2023, non-visa nationalities were enrolled in waves onto the electronic travel authorisation (ETA) scheme, to visit the UK for short periods, and all non-visa nationals were required to apply for ETAs as of April 2025 – there were 5.4 million ETAs granted since the introduction of the scheme

• people coming to the UK for other reasons, such as work, study, family and humanitarian reasons usually require an entry clearance visa – there were 875,000 visas issued for a non-visit reason

Figure 2: Number of visas granted to come to the UK by main category (excluding visitors and transit), and number of detected irregular arrivals, in the year ending March 2025 (main applicants and dependants)

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes - Vis_D02; Safe and legal (humanitarian) routes summary tables - Hum_01; Irregular migration to the UK - Irr_D01

Notes:

1. ‘Other visas’ include settlement visas, temporary visas (excluding transit), EUSS family permits and some other family members coming to accompany others.

2. Chart does not include visitors or transit visas, those coming to the UK who have indefinite leave to remain or status on the EU Settlement Scheme, non-visa national visits, or undetected irregular arrivals.

For further details see ‘How many people come to the UK?’.

2. Why do people come to the UK? Work

Key statistics:

• there were 192,000 visas granted to main applicants in all work categories in the year ending March 2025, 39% fewer than the year ending March 2024, but 40% more than in 2019

• there were 23,000 ‘Health and Care Worker’ visas granted to main applicants in the year ending March 2025, 85% fewer than the peak in 2023

• the number of grants to main applicants on other routes in the ‘Worker’ category, (which includes ‘Skilled Worker’ visas) in the year ending March 2025 has fallen by 23%, compared to the year ending March 2024

• the number of ‘Temporary Worker’ visas granted to main applicants in the year ending March 2025 was 75,000; this is 6% fewer than the year ending March 2024 but 83% higher than in 2019, largely due to the growth in the ‘Seasonal Worker’ route

• there were 434,000 grants of an extension for work to main applicants in the year ending March 2025, nearly 7 times the number in 2019, primarily driven by the ‘Graduate’, ‘Health and Care Worker’, and the ‘Skilled Worker’

For further details see ‘Why do people come to the UK? Work’.

3. Why do people come to the UK? Study

Key statistics:

• there were 403,000 sponsored study visas granted to foreign students in the year ending March 2025, 10% fewer than in the year ending March 2024, but 50% more than in 2019; in the year ending March 2025, visas issued to dependants of students were 83% lower at 18,000 compared to the year ending March 2024

• over 60% of student visas in the latest 5 years were for masters level courses

For further details see ‘Why do people come to the UK? Study’.

4. Why do people come to the UK? Family

Key statistics:

• in the year ended March 2025, 76,000 family-related visas were granted, a 3% decrease from the previous year, but more than double the number granted in the year to March 2021

• the growth of family visas has largely been driven by Partner visas, but in the most recent year the number of Partner visas granted has fallen by 17%

• there has also been a rise in ‘Refugee Family Reunion’ family visas in the year ended March 2025, which increased from 12,000 to 21,000 compared to the previous year, their highest level since the series began in 2005; this is largely due to the higher number of individuals granted refugee status in recent years

For further details see ‘Why do people come to the UK? Family’.

5. How many people come to the UK via safe and legal (humanitarian) routes?

Key statistics:

• there were 70,000 grants of leave offered via safe and legal (humanitarian) routes to come to, or remain in, the UK in the year ending March 2025. This was 26% fewer than the previous year, largely due to the reduction in visas and extensions granted on the Ukraine Scheme

• 7,700 refugees were resettled in the UK in the year ending March 2025, 90% of whom arrived through the Afghan Resettlement Programme

For further details see ‘How many people come to the UK via safe and legal (humanitarian) routes?’.

6. How many people come to the UK irregularly?

Key statistics:

• there were 44,000 irregular arrivals detected in the year ending March 2025, 14% more than the previous year

• small boats accounted for 38,000 (86%) of the total irregular arrivals in the year ending March 2025, 22% more arrivals than the previous year but 17% fewer than in 2022

• Afghans were the most common nationality amongst small boat arrivals in the year ending March 2025, accounting for 16% of small boat arrivals (5,800); however, numbers were lower than the peak of 9,100 Afghan arrivals in 2022

• in the year ending March 2025, one-third of the total number of people claiming asylum in the UK had arrived on a small boat

For further details see ‘How many people come to the UK irregularly?’. For more recent data on daily small boat arrivals see ‘Small boat activity in the English Channel’.

7. Asylum claims, outcomes and system

Figure 3: Asylum claims, outcomes and people awaiting an initial decision, between 2002 and year ending March 2025

Notes:

1. Includes main applicants and dependants.

Source: Asylum claims and decisions – Asy_D01, Asy_D02 and Asy_D03

7.1 How many people claim asylum in the UK?

Key statistics:

• 109,000 people claimed asylum in the year ending March 2025, relating to 85,000 cases, 17% more than in the year ending March 2024 and higher than the previous recorded peak of 103,000 in 2002

• the number of people claiming asylum has almost doubled since 2021

• in 2024, just under a third of asylum seekers had arrived in the UK on a small boat and slightly more than a third had travelled to the UK on a visa

• in 2024 the UK received the fifth largest number of asylum seekers in the EU+, after Germany, Spain, Italy and France

For further details see ‘How many people claim asylum in the UK?’.

7.2 How many people are granted asylum in the UK?

Key statistics:

• 94,000 people received initial decisions on asylum claims in the year ending March 2025, 11% fewer than the previous year, but a higher number of decisions than every year between 2003 and 2022

• almost half (49%) of the initial decisions to main applicants in the year ending March 2025 were grants, a lower proportion than the 61% in the year ending March 2024

For further details see ‘How many people are granted asylum in the UK?’.

7.3 How many cases are in the UK asylum system?

Key statistics:

• at the end of March 2025 there were 79,000 cases awaiting an initial decision, relating to 110,000 people, 9% fewer than the end of March 2024

• the number of cases awaiting an initial decision is 41% lower than the peak at the end of June 2023 (134,000 cases)

For further details see ‘How many cases are there in the UK asylum system?’.

8. How many people are granted settlement or citizenship?

Key statistics:

• there were 173,000 grants of settlement in the UK in the year ending March 2025, a third more than in the previous year; although still below the peak in the year to December 2010 (241,000)

• individuals who had previously been granted leave to remain in the UK on a work route, made up the largest settlement category, accounting for 37% of total grants, with a 54% increase for those on the Skilled Worker route

• settlement granted to former refugees increased by over a third (38%) in the year ending March 2025, compared to the previous year

• there has been a sharp increase in citizenship grants in recent years, with numbers rising from 129,000 in the year ending March 2021 to 269,000 in the year ending March 2025

For further details see ‘How many people are granted settlement or citizenship?’.

9. How many grants of settlement are made via the EU Settlement Scheme?

Key statistics:

• there were 329,000 grants of settled status in the year ending March 2025, a 2% increase on the previous year

• while grants for joining family members and late applications saw a decline, grants to repeat applicants (primarily individuals transitioning from pre-settled to settled status) have seen a small increase

For further details see ‘How many grants of settlement are made via the EU Settlement Scheme?’.

10. How many people are detained under immigration powers in the UK?

Key statistics:

• 21,000 entered detention in the year ending March 2025, 10% higher than the previous year, continuing the recent upward trend; the increase in numbers of individuals entering detention may reflect the use of detention to facilitate the rising number of returns from the UK

• Albanians have been the most common nationality entering detention since 2022, but their numbers have been falling; numbers of Brazilian and Indian nationals entering have both risen in the last year (up 63% and 45% respectively)

For further details see ‘How many people are detained under immigration powers in the UK?’.

11. How many people are returned from the UK?

Key statistics:

• in the year ending March 2025 there were 8,600 enforced returns, an increase of 22% on the previous year, continuing an increase seen over the last 4 years

• Albanians continue to be the most common nationality for enforced returns during the latest year, as they have been for the last 5 years; however, returns of Albanians fell 7% during the year

• there were 5,200 FNO returns in the year ending March 2025, an increase of nearly a quarter compared to the previous year

For further details see ‘How many people are returned from the UK?’.

Additionally, data on returns between 5 July 2024 and 22 March 2025 are available in a recent ad-hoc statistical release. This release also includes data on enforced and voluntary returns of FNOs, and FNOs under the Early Removal Scheme, as well as numbers of charter flights. Some data on illegal working enforcement activity is also available from this link.

12. Additional Home Office migration statistics

The Home Office publishes a range of research and statistics which can be found on the migration analysis pages.

Details on the developments and future plans for Home Office ‘Immigration system statistics’ can be found in ‘Developments in migration statistics’.

12.1 Migration transparency

Figures on performance against service standards and processing times are published as part of the Home Office migration transparency. For further details see ‘Migration transparency data’.

12.2 Migrant Journey

The Migrant Journey report provides an analysis of the behaviour of migrants entering the UK immigration system under the main routes of entry to the UK and the common pathways leading to settlement. Selected analysis of this data feature throughout the Immigration system statistics report. For the latest publication see ‘Migrant Journey’.

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