Asylum claims in the UK reached a record high in 2024

Asylum claims in the UK reached a record high in 2024, with over 108,000 people claiming asylum, relating to 84,000 cases. The Home Office released the official immigration figures for the last year.

Gov.uk reported that 18% more people claimed asylum in the UK last year than in 2023 and 5% more than the previous recorded peak of 103,081 in 2002. According to the report, 47% of cases in 20224 were positive grants of protection, down from 67% in 2023. 

There were historically-high 956,000 visas issued for a non-visit reason - people coming to the UK for other reasons, such as work, study, family and humanitarian reasons usually require an entry clearance visa.

In 2024 there were 132.3 million arrivals to the UK. The majority (55%) were British nationals.

Between 2004 and 2020, there were between 22,000 and 46,000 people claiming asylum in the UK each year. However, since the second half of 2021, there has been a noticeable increase.

Small boat arrivals made up 32% of asylum applications in 2024—a slight rise from 2023 but still lower than 2021, when they accounted for 43% of applications.

The remaining claimants will have entered either through other irregular routes (such as via lorries or shipping containers); through the common travel area without valid permission to enter; or through regular routes with either valid leave to enter (such as using a visa) or using fraudulent documents. 

Seven nationalities accounted for 48% of applications in 2024: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Bangladesh, Syria, India, and Vietnam. The biggest increases compared to 2023 were among people from Vietnam (+113%), Pakistan (+79%), Syria (+70%) and Bangladesh (+42%).

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UK asylum Immigration