Accredited official statistics

Summary of latest statistics

Updated 27 November 2020

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

There were an estimated 67.2 million passenger arrivals in the year ending September 2020 (including returning UK residents), a 54% (78.8 million) decrease compared with the previous year.

This was driven by significantly fewer passenger journeys in the second and third quarters of 2020, when there was an 87% (74.0m) decrease compared to the same period in the previous year, due to the travel restrictions imposed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

There were 1.4 million visas granted in the year ending September 2020, a 56% decrease compared with the previous year. Of these, two thirds (67%) were to visit, 13% were to study (excluding short-term study), 10% were to work, 3% were for family, and 8% for other reasons.

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 132,722 work-related visas granted (including dependants) in the year ending September 2020, 30% lower than the previous year.

The fall was particularly driven by Skilled (Tier 2) work visas, which account for 60% of work-related visas and decreased by 28% to 80,151. Grants of Tier 2 visas had previously been at the highest level on record, however, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a fall since the year ending June 2020.

There were also falls in the number of grants of Youth mobility and temporary worker (Tier 5) visas, down 32% to 29,510, Non-PBS work visas, down 28% to 20,506, and High value (Tier 1) visas, down 56% to 2,555 – these were all affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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

2.2 Study

In the year ending September 2020, there were 176,101 Sponsored study (Tier 4) visas granted (including dependants), a 36% decrease on the year ending September 2019. Grants of Tier 4 visas had previously been at the highest level since 2011, however, the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a fall since the year ending June 2020.

Previous increases were counteracted by a 99% fall in Tier 4 grants in the second quarter of 2020, leading to decrease for the year as a whole.

Chinese nationals were the most common nationality granted Tier 4 visas in the year ending September 2020, accounting for almost a third (30%) of the total. However, grants to Chinese nationals were down 56% compared with the year ending September 2019, due to COVID-19. Indian nationals saw a notable increase in the number of Tier 4 visas granted, an increase of 48% compared to the year ending September 2019, and continuing an increase seen since 2016.

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

2.3 Family

There were 147,448 visas and permits granted for family reasons in the year ending September 2020, 18% fewer than the year ending September 2019, with sharp falls seen in the second quarter of 2020 (90% lower than in the same period in 2019) due to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. There were falls in family-related visas granted (down 18% to 42,807) and dependants of people coming to the UK on other types of visas (down 17% to 63,913).

There were also 23,416 EEA Family permits granted, and 17,312 EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) family permits granted in the year ending September 2020.

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 12,984 people in the year ending September 2020, 33% lower than the previous year, although higher than levels seen prior to 2015.

The Vulnerable Person Resettlement Scheme (VPRS) accounted for over three-quarters (4,030) of those resettled in the UK in year ending March 2020, the latest data available due to coronavirus. Since the government announced the expansion of the scheme on 7th September 2015, including the target of resettling an additional 20,000 refugees under the scheme by 2020, 19,768 refugees have been resettled in the UK. In addition, 239 refugees were resettled prior to this, and do not count towards the 20,000 target.

There were 31,752 asylum applications (main applicants only) in the UK in the year ending September 2020, an 8% decrease from the previous year, although the latest figure will have been impacted by the measures taken in response to COVID-19.

In the year ending September 2020, there were 15,733 initial decisions made on asylum applications, and around half (49%) of these were grants of asylum, humanitarian protection or alternative forms of leave (such as discretionary leave or UASC leave), similar to the previous year (48%).

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 228,629 decisions on applications to extend a person’s stay in the UK (including dependants) in the year ending September 2020, 23% fewer than the year ending September 2019.

4.2 Settlement

There were 80,710 decisions on applications for settlement in the UK from non-EEA nationals in the year ending September 2020, an 11% decrease on the year ending September 2019. Of these, 78,441 (97%) resulted in a grant.

4.3 EEA nationals and their family members

In the year ending September 2020, there were a total of 53,082 decisions in applications for EEA residence documents, down 74% compared to the previous 12 months. This included 23,765 registration certificates and registration cards issued, down 70% on the previous year, and 12,991 documents certifying permanent residence and permanent residence cards issued, 83% fewer than the previous year.

EEA residence documents – including registration certificates, registration cards, documents certifying permanent residence and permanent residence cards – will not be valid after 31 December 2020. Since 30 March 2019, EU and EEA nationals resident in the UK, along with their non-EEA family members, can apply to the EU Settlement Scheme to continue living in the UK.

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 4.26 million applications were received up to 31 October 2020.

4.4 Citizenship

There were 152,384 applications for British citizenship in the year to September 2020, 15% fewer than the previous year.

Applications for citizenship by EU nationals fell by 18% compared to the previous year to 44,053. Applications made by non-EU nationals fell by 14% in the year ending September 2020 to 108,331.

There were 134,019 grants of British citizenship in the year ending September 2020, 13% fewer than the previous year. This fall 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

The number of people entering detention in the year ending September 2020 was 17,219, 30% fewer than the previous year. Although in part affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, this continues a general downward trend since 2015 when the number entering detention peaked at over 32,000.

As at 30 September 2020, there were 990 people in immigration detention, up from 698 at the end of June 2020 but 46% less than as at 30 September 2019 (1,826). The fall from the same day last year, in the number in detention, has been due to fewer people being detained in Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) following the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the year ending September 2020, 18,040 people left the detention estate (down 27%). Nearly a half (48%) had been detained for seven days or fewer, compared with 39% in year ending September 2019, and three-quarters (76%) detained for 28 days or fewer. There has been an increase in the proportion of people leaving detention within 28 days since mid-2018, when around two-thirds left detention within 28 days.

5.2 Returns

In the year ending June 2020, enforced returns from the UK decreased to 5,208, 34% lower than the previous year and the lowest number since records began in 2004. The fall was largely accounted for by the fall in enforced returns of people who were in detention prior to their return (down 35% to 3,474). Although the number of enforced returns has been declining since 2013, the fall in the latest year was larger due to very few returns in the latest quarter, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the same period, there were 8,254 voluntary returns. Although these data are not directly comparable over time (as voluntary returns are subject to upward revision, as in many cases it can take time to identify people who have left the UK without informing the Home Office), the numbers recorded have shown a downward trend since 2016.

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

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