The number of people claiming asylum in the UK has risen to the highest level on record, although the backlog of unprocessed claims has continued to decline as officials improve their rate of processing claims.
According to the latest data from the Home Office, a total of 111,084 people claimed asylum in the UK in the year ending June 2025, 14% more than the year before and 8% more than the previous peak of 103,081 in 2002.
There has been a significant rise in asylum claims recorded since the second half of 2021, after the initial wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the number of applications increasing almost every year since.
The graph below shows how the total number of asylum applicants has changed every year.
The Home Office said that of the 111,084 people who claimed asylum in the year ending June 2025, 39% arrived on a small boat, 11% through other irregular routes, 37% had previously entered the UK on a visa or other leave, and 13% entered through other routes such as the common travel area or were born in the UK to asylum seekers.
Asylum claims have increased across all main visa routes over the last three years, with study visas remaining the most common visa to claim asylum on.
The top five nationalities with the largest number of people claiming asylum in the UK were Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iran, Eritrea, and Bangladesh. Together, these five nationalities represented 37% of total claimants over the past year.
Asylum applicants from Pakistan and Bangladesh were far more likely to have arrived in the UK on a visa or through other leave to enter before filing their application.
The graph below shows the top 10 nationalities claiming asylum in the UK, along with their method of arrival.
62% of all asylum claimants were men aged 18 and over, with proportions varying according to nationality and method of arrival.
Compared with other European countries, the UK received the fifth-largest number of asylum seekers in the year ending March 2025.
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