BBCNet migration to the UK – the number of people arriving, excluding those leaving – has fallen close to pre-Covid levels, according to government data published on Thursday.
How does this sit with other key migration measures, including overall immigration, small boat arrivals and visas granted? Scroll down to learn more about the latest key statistics, and get answers to key questions on a variety of topics.
Producers: Rob England, Libby Rogers, Jess Carr, John Walton, Becky Dale, Allison Schultz, Chris Kay, Steven Connor and Scott Jarvis.
Graphics by: Jez Fraser and Zoe Bartholomew
about data
*The net migration figure will not actually equal the total excluding immigration, as it is published as a round figure by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Data from government or other official sources used in this report may be revised retrospectively between publications. This page displays data only as presented in the latest release.
ONS statistics for immigration and emigration are updated twice per year.
Small boat figures are updated daily from the Home Office. Asylum, returns and visa figures from the Home Office are updated every three months.
The number of people appealing decisions refused asylum is updated by the Ministry of Justice at a different time than other government statistics on asylum, every three months.
Immigration, emigration and net migration
Net migration figures come from the ONS and use the internationally recognized definition of a long-term migrant: “a person who moves to a country other than his or her usual residence for at least one year.”
Visa for legal migration
The data on total entries through Visa includes only the entries made. This does not include people coming to the UK on visitor visas or on transit visas – whose final destination is not the UK.
Visa data does not reflect whether a person came to the UK or not, but reflects the point at which they were permitted to do so.
If someone was granted more than one visa within the year shown, each is counted separately.
The work category refers to new individuals seeking visas and permits, or extensions of existing permits. This includes sub-categories such as seasonal, health and care, domestic and youth mobility visas.
Study visas include all individuals sponsored by approved education providers in the UK and those on short-term study visas.
A family visa allows someone to come to the UK or stay for a long period of time so they can live with close family members who are already here. This includes joining a spouse, partner, child or parent, or coming to care for a relative.
The other category refers to miscellaneous visas outside the work, family, and study categories. This includes humanitarian routes such as the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and the British National Overseas Route.
This also includes family permits for people from EU or European Economic Area countries.
Asylum Application and Hotel
Statistics on asylum seekers in hotels are published by the Home Office under the category “Emergent accommodation – hotels”.
The number of people in all other types of accommodation includes non-hotel casual accommodation, as well as initial, dispersed and “other” accommodation.
A scale used to determine how close a local authority is to the average share of the population of an area in the UK. It compares the share in that area with the share in all areas of the UK that use that form of housing.
- Less than half = more than 50% less than the average share of the population
- Less than = Between 25% and 50% of the average share of the population
- About the same = within 25% of the average share of the population
- More than = 25% to 100% of the average share of the population
- More than double = more than 100% of the average share of the population
The figures for the backlog of people waiting for a preliminary decision on an asylum application include both applicants and dependents.
The number of open appeals against rejected asylum applications refers to individuals.
Small boat transit and other illegal arrivals
Statistics on small boat crossings and the average number of people per boat are taken from UK Home Office daily time-series.
Entering the UK without permission is an offense under immigration law, but asylum seekers are generally not prosecuted for doing so if they claim asylum on arrival. In some cases, people have been prosecuted for entering the UK without permission along with other crimes, such as people smuggling or re-entering after deportation.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) collects statistics on people who died or went missing while crossing from mainland Europe to the UK.
These reports are based on French and UK authorities (such as police or coast guard) or media sources, and are considered an undercount by the IOM due to the lack of official data.
These figures may include those who died while crossing the Channel, but also those who died at any point en route to the crossing point.
Data on modern slavery include only final decisions. Modern slavery includes any form of human trafficking, slavery, servitude or forced labour.
The figures for other entries without permission are the sum of all irregular arrivals that were not by small boat, including inadequately documented air arrivals, identities entered at UK ports and identities entered elsewhere in the UK.
Return and deportation from UK
This page does not include figures for people who come to the UK but are refused entry and then leave the country.
People returning after being convicted of a criminal offense include people who are not British citizens, who have been convicted of a criminal offense in the UK, or have been convicted of a serious criminal offense abroad.
Government-linked returns include Home Office categories of enforced returns (also known as deportations) as well as assisted and controlled voluntary returns.
Independent returns are referred to as other verified returns by the government.
UK migration compared to other countries
Sea arrivals data are taken from the UNHCR European Sea Arrivals Dashboard and combined with UK Home Office data for small boat arrivals.
Asylum application, immigration and emigration statistics for European countries is the latest available data from Eurostat for the following countries:
Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Norway, Switzerland and Croatia.
Population figures for the UK are from the ONS, National Records of Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency 2024 mid-year projections, and for Europe are from Eurostat data to 1 January 2024.
To take into account smaller populations and make European data comparable with the UK, when calculating net migration and asylum applications figures, European countries with a population of less than one million are excluded.
Additionally, when calculating net migration, the only countries that include asylum seekers or refugees in their immigration statistics are:
Austria, Belgium, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland.
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