1 Introduction

This report is the first of four short briefings summarising findings from official data sources that - while not directly quantifying migrant flows or stocks - enable insight into specific aspects of international migration patterns. Our goal is to inform and assist a wide range of users, and for this we depend on your feedback. So please send your comments and suggestions to demography@london.gov.uk.

2 Context for the recent UK asylum statistics

“Asylum” is the protection granted by a nation-state to refugees, that is, people who left their country to escape a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, or membership of a particular social group or political opinion. People who originally came to the UK to seek asylum made up an estimated 0.6% of the UK population in 2019 (388,000 out of an estimated population of 67 million). Of these, more than half had lived in the UK for sixteen years or more (Walsh, Aug 2022).

Asylum data are provided quarterly by the Home Office, and the most recent data were released on 25/05/23.

Source of data: gov.uk

3 Trends in asylum application statistics

The chart below shows the number of applications submitted each quarter (black line) together with the number of applications with their outcome decision still outstanding, between Q1 2017 and Q1 2023.

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns had a substantial impact on all aspects of asylum seeking in the UK, including the number of applications.

The chart shows there was a decrease in applications at the start of 2020, and a great increase in the second half of 2021. On average, between Q1 2020 and Q1 2023, the percentage of quarterly applications related to Unaccompanied Asylum Seeking Children (UASC) averaged at 7.7%, and ranged from 4.6% (Q1 2023) to 10.3% (Q3 2020).

The chart also shows the number of asylum applications awaiting a decision has increased gradually since 2018, and more sharply since mid-2021. By the end of Q1 2023, over 172,000 people were awaiting their asylum decision of which three-quarters (128,812) had been waiting more than 6 months.

In 2019, people seeking asylum accounted for around 6% of immigrants to the UK, while in 2020, when overall immigration was lower than usual due to the pandemic, it is estimated that people seeking asylum made up around 12% of immigrants. The latest immigration estimates suggest that in the year ending June 2022, around 16% of immigration was accounted for by people seeking asylum and refugees. This included 75,000 people who sought asylum through the UK’s in-country process (around 35,000 of whom had crossed the Channel in small boats), 12,000 relocated Afghans, and 89,000 Ukrainians.

In 2021, 42% of people seeking asylum were nationals of Middle Eastern countries, which was the highest proportion and number ever recorded. This was consequent to the large number of applicants from Iran, Iraq, and Syria. The next largest regional groupings of nationalities were African (23%), Asian (19%) and European (13%). The picture in 2022 (up to December) had changed, with 24% of people seeking asylum being of European nationalities, 31% of Asian countries, 23% of Middle Eastern countries and 17% of African countries (Sturge, March 2023).

For more information, or to send your comments and suggestions, please contact the Demography Team, GLA City Intelligence Unit.
demography@london.gov.uk