Accredited official statistics

Summary of latest statistics

Published 26 May 2022

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1. How many people come to the UK each year (including visitors)?

There were an estimated 42.9 million passenger arrivals in the year ending March 2022 (including returning UK residents), more than twice as many as in the year ending March 2021 (18.1 million) but less than a third of arrivals in the year ending March 2020 (141.2 million). The differences in the number of passenger arrivals are due to the travel restrictions imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There were 1,618,367 visas and permits granted in the year ending March 2022, around half the number (-47%) of the year ending March 2020 (because of the global pandemic), but around two and half times higher (+145%) than the year ending March 2021. Of the visas granted in the latest 12 months, 38% were to visit, 29% were to study, 17% were to work, 3% were for family reasons, and 13% for other reasons.

By 31 March 2022 a total of 60,482 applications received across both Ukraine Visa Schemes, of which 27,979 had been granted. The Ukraine Family Scheme had 29,178 applications by 31 March. Of these, 23,817 applications had been granted. The Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme had 31,304 applications and 4,162 grants.

There were 19,500 applications for the BN(O) route in Q1 of 2022, with 18,563 out of country applications, and 900 in country applications. Of the total, 11,500 applications relate to main applicants and 8,000 relate to dependants. There have been a total of 123,400 applications for the BN(O) route since its introduction on 31st January 2021 up to the end of March 2022.

For further details see ʻHow many people come to the UK each year (including visitors)?’.

2. Why do people come to the UK?

2.1 Work

There were 277,069 work-related visas granted in the year ending March 2022 (including dependants). This was a 129% increase on the year ending March 2021 and is 50% higher than in the year ending March 2020.

Skilled work, which accounts for 66% of work-related visas granted, saw the largest growth in visa numbers from the year ending March 2020 and increased by 72,208 or 66%. High value, Skilled worker, Temporary worker and Other work visas and exemptions routes all rose compared to the previous year. These increases will in part reflect a recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, but Skilled work and Temporary work visas are also now substantially higher than the pre-COVID 19 level in 2019.

There were 73,400 grants to Skilled worker visas and 75,963 grants to Skilled worker Health & Care visas. Combined, these account for 54% of all work visas.

‘Seasonal Workers’ made up over half (53%) of all Temporary work grants, and saw a large increase, up from 10,656 in the previous year to 32,005 (+200%). This route came into effect in Q1 2019, and the growth in this route reflect the quota increases for the Seasonal Worker visa, which increased from 2,500 in 2019 to a current quota of 30,000 visas in 2022.

For further details see ʻWhy do people come to the UK? To work’.

2.2 Study

In the year ending March 2022, there were 466,611 Sponsored study visas granted (to both main applicants and their dependants), 58% (+170,368) more than the year ending March 2020.

The number of Sponsored study visas granted in the year ending March 2022 is the largest on record. Each year ending period since September 2020 have seen successive increases in Sponsored study grants, with the peak seen in the current year being a continuation of this trend. This sustained increase represents both a recovery from lower numbers during the Covid-19 pandemic and an increase on the pre-pandemic period.

Chinese nationals were the most common nationality granted Sponsored study visas in the year ending March 2022, with 116,967 visas granted, similar to the number seen in the year ending March 2020 (118,291). Chinese students accounted for 25% of the total number of Sponsored study visas granted, the lowest proportion since the year ending March 2012 and much lower than the peak of 43% in the year ending September 2019.

Nigerian nationals saw the largest percentage increase in Sponsored Study grants compared with the year ending March 2020, increasing by 49,532 (+529%) to a record high of 58,887, making them the third largest nationality group in the last year.

For further details see ʻWhy do people come to the UK? To study’.

2.3 Family

There were 301,830 visas and permits granted for family reasons in the year ending March 2022, 90% more than the year ending March 2021, a period affected by the global pandemic, and 63% more than the year ending March 2020, largely due to increases in dependants of people coming on work or study visas, and the dependants of the newly introduced British Nationals (Overseas) route.

205,889 dependants of people coming to the UK on other types of visas, up 171% in the last year and up 155% since the year ending March 2020; there were particularly large increases in grants to dependants of Sponsored study visa holders (from 23,765 in the year ending March 2021 to 72,554 in the year ending March 2022), and dependants of Skilled workers (up from 37,764 to 83,400). This number also includes 35,754 dependants of main applicants on the BN(O) route.

There were 51,148 EUSS family permits issued in the year ending March 2022 to family members of people from the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland, or Liechtenstein granted or eligible for settled or pre-settled status through the EU Settlement Scheme on the basis of residence in the UK before the end of the transition period (a total of 94,093 have been issued since the route opened in March 2019). The annual increase reflects increased awareness of the route and final closure of the EEA family permit route on 30 June 2021.

For further details see ʻWhy do people come to the UK? For family reasons’.

3. How many people do we grant asylum or protection to?

The UK offered protection (in the form of asylum, humanitarian protection, alternative forms of leave and resettlement) to 15,451 people (including dependants) in the year ending March 2022. This number was 24% lower than the year ending March 2020, but similar to levels seen from 2015 to 2018. Resettlement accounted for 1,651 (11%) of the people offered protection in the latest year. The resettlement data here does not include the people who have been resettled under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme, or relocated under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy; statistics on these schemes will be included in future editions of Immigration Statistics.

There were 55,146 asylum applications (main applicants only) in the UK in the year ending March 2022, this is 56% more than in the year ending March 2020. This is higher than at the peak of the European Migration crisis (36,546 in year ending June 2016) and is the highest number of applications for almost two decades (since 2003).

In the year ending March 2022, there were 14,603 initial decisions made on asylum applications. Although the number of decisions has increased in the last year, they remain 29% below levels seen in the year ending March 2020, before the pandemic. Three quarters (75%) of the initial decisions in the year ending March 2022 were grants (of asylum, humanitarian protection or alternative forms of leave), which is substantially higher than previous years and the highest since 82% in 1990. Of the top ten nationalities applying for asylum, half have a grant rate above 80% (Iran 88%, Eritrea 97%, Syria 98%, Afghanistan 91%, and Sudan 95%). The rise in grant rate is in part because of the low number of refusals (including third country refusals, which have been affected by the UK leaving the EU), although the overall grant rate can vary for a number of reasons.

For further details see ʻHow many people do we grant asylum or protection to?’.

4. How many people continue their stay in the UK or apply to stay permanently?

4.1 Extension of temporary stay in the UK

Excluding extensions granted to individuals who were unable to leave the UK because of travel restrictions or self-isolation related to COVID-19, there were 401,963 decisions on applications to extend a person’s stay in the UK (including dependants) in the year ending March 2022, 57% more than a year earlier and 33% more than in the year ending March 2020.

4.2 Settlement

There were 111,760 decisions on applications for settlement in the UK in 2021, a 20% increase on the previous year and 18% more than in the year ending March 2020. Of these, 110,145 (99%) resulted in a grant.

4.3 EEA nationals and their family members

Documents issued under European law are no longer valid as evidence of a right of residence in the UK unless an application to the EUSS was made on or before 30 June 2021. Applications received before 1 January 2021 are still being processed. More information is available on the relevant visas and immigration pages on GOV.UK.

In the year ending March 2022, there were a total of 1,446 decisions on applications for EEA residence documents, four percent of the number in the previous year. This included 867 registration certificates and registration cards issued, and 184 documents certifying permanent residence and permanent residence cards issued.

The Home Office publishes updates to headline EU Settlement Scheme numbers on a monthly basis, with more detailed statistical reports published quarterly. The latest data show that 6.6 million applications to the EU Settlement Scheme had been received up to 30 April 2022, of which 6.32 million had been concluded.

4.4 Citizenship

There were 180,493 applications for British citizenship in the year ending March 2022, 9% more than in the year ending March 2020.

Applications for citizenship by non-EU nationals has remained broadly stable since 2014, whilst applications by EU nationals increased up to mid-2021. EU nationals accounted for almost a third (30%) of all citizenship applications in the latest year compared to 12% in 2016. Increases in citizenship applications from EU nationals since 2016 are likely to reflect people seeking to confirm their status in the UK following the EU referendum and the UK’s exit from the EU.

There were 196,085 grants of British citizenship in the year ending March 2022, 20% more than in the year ending March 2020. This was due in part to the COVID-19 pandemic response and comes after a period of relative stability since 2014.

For further details see ʻHow many people continue their stay in the UK?’.

5. How many people are detained or returned?

5.1 Immigration detention

25,282 people entered immigration detention in the year ending March 2022, almost double the previous year (when there was a large fall following the COVID-19 outbreak) and 9% higher than pre-pandemic levels in the year ending March 2020 (23,118).

At the end of March 2022, there were 1,440 people in immigration detention (including those detained under immigration powers in prison), more than double at the end of June 2020 (698) when the impact of the pandemic was most pronounced, but 12% fewer than pre-pandemic levels at the end of December 2019 (1,637).

24,918 people left detention in the year ending March 2022 which is 93% more than the previous year and 4% more than pre-pandemic levels in the year ending March 2020. Just under three-quarters (73%) had been detained for seven days or fewer, compared with 63% in the previous year and 39% pre-pandemic in the year ending March 2020. This is in part due to an increasing proportion of detainees being those detained for short periods on arrival to the UK before being bailed, typically while their asylum (or other) application is considered.

5.2 Returns

In 2021, enforced returns from the UK decreased to 2,761, 18% fewer than the previous year and 62% fewer than in 2019. The vast majority of enforced returns in the latest year were of Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) and a majority were EU nationals.

Enforced returns have been declining since the peak in 2012, with the recent sharp fall related to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The number of enforced returns were very low during quarters that coincided with lockdowns starting in late March 2020 and early January 2021 (362 and 429). Numbers have increased to around 780 per quarter, however this is still below pre-pandemic levels (which saw around 1,800 returns per quarter).

In 2021, there were 2,673 FNOs returned from the UK, of which 61% were EU nationals (1,642) and 39% were non-EU nationals (1,031). FNO figures are a subset of the total returns figures and in 2021 constitute the vast majority of total enforced returns and 28% of enforced and voluntary returns combined.

This figure of 2,673 FNO returns is 9% lower than in 2020 and 48% lower than in 2019, before the pandemic began. FNO returns have shown an overall downward trend since 2016, following a steady increase before this due to more FNOs from the EU being returned in that period.

For further details see ʻHow many people are detained or returned?’.

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