Accredited official statistics

How many people are granted asylum in the UK?

Published 27 November 2025

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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-september-2025/how-many-people-are-granted-asylum-in-the-uk

Back to ‘Immigration system statistics, year ending September 2025’ contents page.

Data relates to the year ending September 2025 and all comparisons are with the year ending September 2024 (unless indicated otherwise).

An asylum claim may relate to more than one person, if the main applicant has family members (‘dependants’) who are included in the same claim.

These statistics focus on the number of people (main applicants and dependants) receiving outcomes on their asylum claims. The number of main applicants (excluding dependants) represents the total number of asylum cases being considered by the Home Office.

Statistics on other parts of the asylum system are available in other chapters of this report - ‘How many people claim asylum in the UK?’ and ‘How many cases are in the UK asylum system?’.

More detail on the outcomes of asylum claims from small boat arrivals by outcome date is available in Asy_02c and Asy_02d of the ‘Asylum summary tables’.

1. How many people are granted protection at initial decision?

The data in this section relate to grants at initial decision following an asylum claim. Additional numbers of people receive a grant of protection following an appeal. Other people will be granted refugee status when they are brought to the UK under UNHCR resettlement schemes (reported in ‘How many people come to the UK via safe and legal (humanitarian) routes?’).

The number of people granted refugee protection or other leave at initial decision following an asylum claim has increased since last year, mainly due to a record number of initial decisions being made.

In the year ending September 2025, 58,148 people were granted refugee protection or other leave at initial decision, 10% more than the previous year. This increase was due to an increase in the overall number of initial decisions despite a lower proportion of decisions being grants (that is, a lower grant rate) than in the previous year.

The total number of initial decisions in the latest year reached 133,502, the highest number since comparable records began in 2002 and 15% above the previous peak in the year ending June 2024.

Figure 1 illustrates the number of grants and refusals between the year ending September 2003 and the year ending September 2025.

Figure 1: Number of people granted or refused protection or other leave following an asylum claim in the UK, year ending September 2003 to year ending September 20251, 2

Source: Asylum claims and initial decisions - Asy_D02

Notes:

  1. Includes main applicants and dependants.
  2. Excludes withdrawals and administrative outcomes.

The number of refusals in the year ending September 2025 (75,354) surpassed the previous comparable peak recorded in the year ending March 2003 by 7%.

2. What proportion of asylum seekers are granted protection at initial decision?

The data in this section relates to the grant rate which is the proportion of initial decisions (main applicants only) which resulted in a grant of protection or other leave. The grant rate excludes withdrawals and administrative outcomes.

The grant rate at initial decision has decreased in the latest year but is still higher than in any year prior to 2019.

In the year ending September 2025, the grant rate was 45% (Figure 2), lower than the 52% in the year ending September 2024, and substantially below the peak grant rate of 77% in the year ending September 2022.

Figure 2: Asylum grant rate at initial decision, year ending September 2002 to September 2025

Source: Asylum claims and initial decisions - Asy_D02

The overall grant rate can vary for a number of reasons, including the mix of nationalities claiming asylum, and the protection needs of those who claim asylum in the UK. It is also affected by operational resourcing and policy decisions, such as changes to the types of cases prioritised for decisions. The Home Office guidance on caseworking prioritisation is published on GOV.UK.

3. Who is granted protection at initial decision?

Grant rates have fallen in the latest year for many nationalities claiming asylum.

In the latest year, all of the 10 most common nationalities receiving an initial decision saw a decline in grant rates compared to the previous year.

There have been some notable declines in the grant rate in the year ending September 2025. The grant rate fell from 84% to 36% for claims from Afghanistan and for claims from Vietnam the grant rate decreased from 47% to 19%.

Other nationalities experienced less notable declines and some continue to have high grant rates. For example, as shown in Figure 3, most claims from Sudan (96%) and a high proportion from Eritrea (88%) were granted in the year ending September 2025.

Figure 3: The number of asylum claimants receiving initial decisions in the UK, for the top 10 nationalities, and the grant rate at initial decision (%), year ending September 2025 1, 2

Source: Asylum claims and initial decisions - Asy_D02

Notes:

  1. The figure shows the top 10 nationalities receiving initial decisions in the year ending September 2025.
  2. The number of people receiving initial decisions includes main applicants and dependants. The grant rate includes main applicants only.

Some nationalities continue to have a lower grant rate, with claims from Bangladesh (18%), Turkey (19%) and particularly India (1%) seeing a low proportion of claims being granted at initial decision.

Unaccompanied asylum-seeking children (UASC) received 3,518 grants of protection or other leave at initial decision in the year ending September 2025. 66% of UASC claims were granted leave in the year ending September 2025, higher than for non-UASC claims (44%).

Since 2018, the Home Office has published statistics on asylum cases where a person’s sexual orientation formed a part of the basis of their claim. In 2023, 2,133 grants at initial decision (main applicants only) were made where sexual orientation was part of the claim. The grant rate for these claims in 2023 was 62%, similar to the grant rate for non-LGB asylum claims in that period (67%). More information can be found in ‘Asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation 2023’.

4. How do latest outcomes compare to initial outcomes?

The outcome of an asylum claim may change following an appeal or a reconsideration. As more initial decisions are made and appeals are also completed, the number of grants and refusals relating to claims made in previous years will change. This is especially relevant for the most recent years, as ongoing appeals and reconsiderations mean the latest grant rate will change.

Between 2007 and 2021, the grant rate following appeal or reconsideration was, on average, 21 percentage points higher than at initial decision.

Figure 4: Estimated grant rates at initial and latest decision by year of claim1, 2, 3

Source: Outcome analysis of asylum claims - Asy_D04

Notes:

  1. Main applicants only.
  2. The grant rate is the proportion of decisions which resulted in a grant of protection or other leave. Excludes withdrawals and administrative outcomes.
  3. Data is based on the year of the claim, and the grant rate at the latest decision is calculated from the latest outcome, as given at the point of data extraction in October 2025.

Figure 4 shows that the grant rate at the latest decision stage, reflecting appeals and reconsiderations, was between 17 and 29 percentage points higher than at the initial grant rate each year from 2007 to 2021.

In recent years, the gap has narrowed due to the less time available for appeals and reconsiderations to be concluded, meaning a larger proportion of cases will not yet have received an appeal outcome.

5. How many people do not receive a substantive decision on their asylum claim?

A substantive decision on an asylum claim refers to a grant of permission to stay or refusal of the asylum claim, based on the merit of the claim itself. However, some claims are closed before a substantive decision is issued.

5.1 Withdrawals

If a claimant fails to follow the required processes, such as not attending interviews, the Home Office can withdraw their claim. This is known as an implicit withdrawal. Claims can also be explicitly withdrawn if the claimant tells the Home Office they no longer wish to proceed with their claim.

In the year ending September 2025, 20,516 people had asylum claims withdrawn, representing a 12% decrease compared to the previous year. Despite this decline, total withdrawals were almost 4.5 times larger than in 2022. Of these withdrawals in the year ending September 2025, 68% were implicit withdrawals.

5.2 Inadmissibility

Some asylum claims may be declared inadmissible, meaning the UK is not responsible for examining the claim. The inadmissibility provisions provide the grounds for treating an asylum claim as inadmissible to the UK asylum system – this includes if a person has an earlier presence in, or connection to, a safe third country.

Between January 2021 (when the inadmissibility rules were introduced) and June 2025, 142 people were declared inadmissible and 38 people were removed from the UK.

The 38 returns were made to European nations - Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Malta, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.

6. What happens after a refugee is granted asylum?

Analysis of HMRC-linked data shows that the employment rate among refugees aged 16 to 64, granted asylum between 2015 and 2023, levels off at around 48% after 2 years.

After being granted refugee status or another form of protection, individuals transition from asylum support into mainstream systems for housing, health, and education. Refugees are eligible to work and can access benefits including English language and employment support through national and local programmes.

The latest data on refugee integration in England and Wales comes from the Refugee Integration Outcomes (RIO) project, published in November 2025.

The RIO project links Home Office refugee records and cross-government administrative datasets, examining individuals granted asylum and refugee status in England and Wales between 2015 and 2023. While findings may not necessarily be generalisable to refugees granted asylum after this period or to groups granted other types of protection, they provide a strong foundation for understanding social and economic integration outcomes.

According to the latest statistics, employment rates among refugees aged 16 to 64 who were granted asylum between 2015 and 2023 levelled off at around 48% 2 years after status was granted. This was well below the UK average, which ranged between 73% and 74% over this period.

Furthermore, median annual earnings for asylum refugees rose gradually to £13,000 after 8 years in employment. For those working full-time, earnings reached £23,000, while part-time and irregular workers earned £10,000 and £11,000 respectively after the same period. Most refugees also initially reported working irregular hours, including zero-hours contracts, but over time there was a notable transition towards full-time work.

Previous findings from the RIO project, using Census 2021 data linked to individuals granted asylum or refugee status in England and Wales between 2015 and 2021, provided valuable insight into the types of jobs refugees secured as well as their language proficiency and housing outcomes.

The analysis showed most employed refugees worked in lower-skilled or customer-facing roles. Elementary occupations, defined as simple and routine tasks requiring hand-held tools and some physical effort, accounted for 23% roles held by employed refugees. Other significant positions included those in sales and customer service (15%) and caring services (14%). Only 17% were in professional or managerial occupations.

Additionally, English proficiency was generally high, with 71% speaking English well or very well. Employment likelihood was strongly linked to language proficiency, as 49% of those who spoke English very well were employed, compared with 21% of those with limited English.

Over half (51%) of asylum refugee households lived in privately rented or rent-free housing while nearly 46% lived in social rentals. Homeownership or shared ownership accounted for fewer than 4% of tenure among this cohort.

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

Further links:

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