Accredited official statistics

Summary of latest statistics

Published 28 November 2024

Back to ‘Immigration system statistics, year ending September 2024’ content page.

This Accredited Official Statistics publication provides comprehensive statistics on the operation of the UK immigration system. This summary chapter provides a brief overview, with a selection of key statistics from the full report.

The UK immigration system run by the Home Office undertakes a wide range of activities including issuing short and long term visas to those outside of the UK, extensions and changes to visas, granting of settlement and citizenship to those already in the UK, providing safe and legal (humanitarian) routes of entry, as well as providing asylum and carrying out enforcement action. Figure 1 provides a summary of these different aspects of the immigration system along with the numbers of people dealt with by each in the latest year.

Figure 1: Summary of the UK immigration system^{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6}, year ending September 2024

Notes:

1. This diagram is a simplification and doesn’t include all parts of the immigration system, such as people crossing the border who do not require a visa, or irregular arrivals. Data in different parts of the immigration system is not always comparable.
2. Safe and legal (humanitarian) routes include visas granted on the Ukraine, Hong Kong BN(O) and family reunion routes, as well as refugee resettlement and relocation in the UK.
3. The EU settlement scheme (EUSS) figure relates to grants of settled status or pre-settled status, in the year ending September 2024.
4. Immigration detention relates to the number of people in detention on 30 September 2024.

1. How many people come to the UK?

Key statistics:

In the year ending September 2024 there were 130.9 million arrivals to the UK. The majority (55%) were British nationals. Of the non-British arrivals, most will be short-term arrivals such as visitors, with smaller numbers arriving for other reasons (such as work, study, family and humanitarian).

There are several ways a non-British national may get permission to come to the UK.

• visa nationals must apply online for an entry clearance visa in advance of travel to visit or transit the UK – there were 2.1 million visitor visas granted and 16,765 transit visas in the year ending September 2024
• non-visa nationals can be granted leave to enter on arrival at the UK border for a short, temporary period (usually up to 6 months), primarily for tourism
• since October 2023, certain nationalities may acquire an electronic travel authorisation (ETA) to visit the UK for short periods – there were 601,858 ETAs granted in the year ending September 2024
• people coming to the UK for other reasons, such as work, study, family and humanitarian reasons usually require an entry clearance visa – there were 1.1 million visas issued for a non-visit reason

Figure 2: Number of visas granted to come to the UK by main category (excluding visitors and transit), and number of detected irregular arrivals, year ending September 2024 (main applicants and dependants)

Source: Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes – Vis_D02, Asylum and resettlement summary tables – Asy_11, Irregular migration to the UK - Irr_D01

Notes:

1. ‘Other visas’ include settlement visas, temporary visas (exc. transit), EUSS family permits and some other family members coming to accompany others.
2. ‘Safe and legal’ includes out of country Ukraine and BN(O) schemes and refugee resettlement. It excludes family reunion visas which are included in ‘Family visas’.
3. Chart does not include visitors or transit visas, those coming to the UK who have indefinite leave to remain or status on the EU Settlement Scheme, non-visa national visits, or undetected irregular arrivals.

For further details see ‘How many people come to the UK?’.

2. Why do people come to the UK? Work

Key statistics:

• there were 241,719 visas granted to main applicants in all work categories in the year ending September 2024, 28% fewer than the previous year, but 76% higher than in 2019
• there were 50,591 ‘Health and Care Worker’ visas granted to main applicants in the year ending September 2024, 65% fewer than the previous year
• the number of grants to main applicants on other routes in the ‘Worker’ category, (which includes ‘Skilled Worker’ visas) has increased by 67% since the year ending September 2021, but in the latest year has fallen by 3%
• the number of ‘Temporary Worker’ visas granted to main applicants in the year ending September 2024 was 77,719. This is 7% higher than the previous year but almost double (+89%) the number in the year ending 2019 (40,914), largely due to the growth in the ‘Seasonal Worker’ visa route
• extensions into UK work routes increased by 35% to 400,302 in the year ending September 2024, led by significant growth in the Graduate, Health and Care Worker, and Skilled Worker routes

For further details see ‘Why do people come to the UK? Work’.

3. Why do people come to the UK? Study

Key statistics:

• there were 392,969 sponsored study visas granted to foreign students in the year ending September 2024, 19% fewer than the previous year but 46% higher than 2019
• nearly two-thirds (61%) of student visas in the latest year were for masters level courses
• in the first 9 months of 2024 (January to September), visas issued to dependants of students fell by 84% to 17,978 compared to the same period in 2023 (there were 16% fewer main applicants over the same period)

For further details see ‘Why do people come to the UK? Study’.

4. Why do people come to the UK? Family

Key statistics:

• in the year ending September 2024, 86,940 family-related visas were granted, a 7% increase on the previous year and continuing a 2-year upward trend. This growth was largely driven by ‘Partner’ visa grants, which more than doubled between the years ending September 2022 and 2023, although they fell 12% in the latest year
• in the last year, there has been a rise in ‘Other’ visa grants, which have more than trebled from 6,222 to 19,883. Over 96% of ‘Other’ family visas are Family Reunion, with grants reaching their highest level since the time series began in 2010
• this increase in Family Reunion grants is attributed to the rising number of individuals granted refugee status in recent years who are eligible to sponsor family members, particularly among Syrian and Iranian nationals

For further details see ‘Why do people come to the UK? Family’.

5. How many people come to the UK via safe and legal (humanitarian) routes?

Key statistics:

• in the year ending September 2024, 89,250 grants of leave were offered via safe and legal (humanitarian) routes to come to, or remain in, the UK. This was 19% fewer than the previous year, largely due to the reduction in visas and extensions granted on the Ukraine Schemes

For further details see ‘How many people come to the UK via safe and legal (humanitarian) routes?’.

6. How many people come to the UK irregularly?

Key statistics:

• there were 36,949 irregular arrivals detected in the year ending September 2024, 18% fewer than the previous year
• there were 29,851 small boat arrivals in the year ending September 2024 (81% of total irregular arrivals), 21% fewer than the previous year
• from January to September 2024, Afghans and Vietnamese were the 2 most common nationalities amongst small boat arrivals; however, compared with the same 9-month period in the previous year, the number of Afghan arrivals has decreased by 14%, but the number of Vietnamese arrivals has increased by 177%
• in the year ending September 2024, 28% of the total number of people claiming asylum in the UK had arrived on a small boat

For further details see ‘How many people come to the UK irregularly?’. For more recent data on daily small boat arrivals see ‘Small boat activity in the English Channel’.

7. Asylum Claims, System and Outcomes

Figure 3: Asylum claims, outcomes and people awaiting an initial decision, year ending December 2002 to year ending September 2024

Notes:

1. Includes main applicants and dependants.

Source: Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement – Asy_D01, Asy_D02 and Asy_D03

7.1 How many people claim asylum in the UK?

Key statistics:

• 99,790 people claimed asylum in the year ending September 2024, relating to just over 77,066 cases, similar to the previous year
• the number of people claiming asylum has more than doubled since year ending September 2021

For further details see ‘How many people claim asylum in the UK?’.

7.2 How many people are granted asylum in the UK?

Key statistics:

• 102,305 people received initial decisions on asylum claims (relating to 78,199 cases) in the year ending September 2024, almost double (95% more than in) the previous year due to increased numbers of asylum decision makers and increased productivity
• more than half (52%) of the initial decisions to main applicants in year ending September 2024 were grants, although this was a lower proportion than the 75% in year ending September 2023
• 32,603 people received non-substantive decisions (withdrawal or administrative outcome) on their asylum claim in the year ending September 2024, higher than the previous year

For further details see ‘How many people are granted asylum in the UK?’.

7.3 How many cases are in the UK asylum system?

Key statistics:

• at the end of September 2024, there were 22% fewer asylum cases awaiting an initial decision (97,170 cases, relating to 133,409 people) than at the end of September 2023
• While the number of cases awaiting an initial decision is lower than the peak at the end of June 2023 (134,046 cases), it is higher than before 2022

For further details see ‘How many cases are there in the UK asylum system?’.

8. How many people are granted settlement or citizenship?

Key statistics:

• there were 147,053 grants of settlement in the UK in the year ending September 2024, almost a third more than the year ending September 2023. This is the highest level in 11 years, but lower than the peak in the year ending September 2010 (241,586)
• settlement on those previously on work routes accounted for 36% of total grants, driven largely by the Skilled Worker route, which saw a 50% year-on-year increase to 40,987, the highest since 2007
• settlement grants to refugees increased by over a third to 35,654, nearly double the pre-pandemic average (18,500) between 2015 and 2019
• there has been a sharp increase in citizenship grants in recent years, with the numbers rising consistently from 2021 (176,317) to 268,481 in 2024 (the highest since the time series began), with increases in grants to non-EU nationals significantly driving the total increase

For further details see ‘How many people are granted settlement or citizenship?’.

9. How many people are granted settlement via the EU Settlement Scheme?

Key statistics:

• there have been 8.2 million EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) applications made by 6.3 million people since the scheme launched up to 30 September 2024
• 8.0 million applications had been concluded since the scheme launched up to 30 September 2024, of which 50% (4.0 million) were granted settled status, 35% (2.8 million) were granted pre-settled status and 15% had other outcomes
• an estimated 6.3 million people have applied to the scheme since it began in 2018, of which 75% (4.8 million) made one application and 25% (1.5 million) made at least one repeat application
• there were 14,477 EUSS family permits granted in the year ending September 2024, around two-thirds the number granted in the previous year

For further details see ‘How many people are granted settlement via the EU settlement scheme?’.

10. How many people are detained or returned?

Key statistics:

• numbers of people entering detention in the year ending September 2024 increased 7% compared with the previous year. This small uptick follows a long-term downward trend since 2015
• in the year ending September 2024 there were 7,708 enforced returns, an increase of 41% on the previous year, continuing an increase seen over the last 3 years
• there were 4,674 FNO returns made in the year ending September 2024, an increase of over a quarter (29%) compared to the previous year

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

11. Additional Home Office migration statistics

The Home Office publishes a range of research and statistics which can be found on the migration analysis pages.

Details on the developments and future plans for Home Office ‘Immigration system statistics’ can be found in ‘Developments in migration statistics’.

11.1 Migration transparency

Figures on performance against service standards and processing times are published as part of the Home Office migration transparency. For further details see ‘Migration transparency data’.

11.2 Migrant Journey

The Migrant Journey report provides evidence on the behaviour of migrants entering the UK immigration system for the main routes of entry to the UK and the common pathways through the immigration system that result in settlement. Extracts of the analysis feature throughout the Immigration system statistics. For the full report see ‘Migrant journey’.

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