Immigration · Asylum · United Kingdom · to June 2026

Asylum: the decision queue has shrunk — so why are so many people still on support?

The number waiting for a first decision fell by 75%, from 160,919 at the end of 2022 to 40,168 at the end of June 2026, as decisions rose. People on asylum support fell by only 17%, to 93,293: support continues through appeals, and claims are still arriving at about 86,000 a year.

Evidence last reviewed 3 October 2026

The decision queue

How many people are waiting for a first asylum decision?

The queue for a first decision fell from 160,919 to 40,168

People (main applicants and dependants) waiting for an initial decision on an asylum claim, United Kingdom, at the end of each year and at the end of June in the latest year.

United Kingdom · End of 2010 to the end of June 2026

1996–2026 displayed window · observations only. Shading marks years outside the displayed record.

The queue at the end of 2022 was about 7 times its size at the end of 2014, as claims rose and decisions slowed. It has since fallen by 75% as the Home Office made far more initial decisions. A shorter queue is not the end of the process: refusals can be appealed, and a case that leaves this queue with a refusal may join the appeals queue, which this chart cannot show.

United Kingdom · End of 2010 to the end of June 2026 · Accredited official statistics; revised quarterly

Sources, definitions and data

Geography:: United Kingdom — Asylum claimants and their dependants
Measure:: People, at a point in time
Period:: End of 2010 to the end of June 2026
Status:: Accredited official statistics; revised quarterly
Calculation:: As published by the Home Office (Asy_00a).
Compare with:: Peak: 160,919 at the end of 2022
Not included / breaks:: Initial decisions only — people waiting for an appeal are not counted, and appeals data have not been published in these tables since the year to March 2023. From March 2023 the count comes from a new casework system and covers claims lodged since March 2007 (previously April 2006).

Source: Home Office, Immigration system statistics: asylum summary tables, year ending June 2026, Asy_00a (released 27 August 2026). Chart MIG-06.

View the data as a table

As at	People awaiting a first decision
End 2010	7,240
End 2011	8,857
End 2012	12,816
End 2013	18,172
End 2014	22,898
End 2015	22,147
End 2016	27,857
End 2017	29,522
End 2018	35,855
End 2019	51,228
End 2020	64,895
End 2021	100,564
End 2022	160,919
End 2023	128,786
End 2024	124,802
End 2025	64,426
End June 2026	40,168

Are decisions keeping pace with claims?

Decisions exceeded claims in 2023 and 2025; 85,891 people claimed asylum in the year to June 2026

People claiming asylum and people receiving an initial decision (main applicants and dependants), United Kingdom, calendar years.

United Kingdom · 2010 to 2025; latest rolling year in the text

1996–2026 displayed window · observations only. Shading marks years outside the displayed record.

From 2018 to 2022 claims ran well ahead of decisions, so the queue grew. Since then the balance has swung: decisions exceeded claims in 2023 and 2025, when the queue fell fastest. Claims have not fallen back to pre-2020 levels: 101,911 people claimed in 2025, against 45,537 in 2019. Reducing the queue therefore depends on decisions staying above claims.

United Kingdom · 2010 to 2025; latest rolling year in the text · Accredited official statistics; revised quarterly

Sources, definitions and data

Geography:: United Kingdom
Measure:: People per year
Period:: 2010 to 2025; latest rolling year in the text
Status:: Accredited official statistics; revised quarterly
Calculation:: As published by the Home Office (Asy_00a). The two flows are counted on different dates, so claims in a year do not equal that year’s decisions plus the change in the queue.
Compare with:: Highest year for claims: 2024 (104,764)
Not included / breaks:: Decisions include withdrawals; the grant rate (MIG-08) excludes them.

Source: Home Office, Immigration system statistics: asylum summary tables, year ending June 2026, Asy_00a (released 27 August 2026). Chart MIG-07.

View the data as a table

Year	Claims	Initial decisions	Grants	Refusals
2010	22,644	26,452	6,444	20,008
2011	25,898	22,794	7,184	15,610
2012	27,978	21,859	7,797	14,062
2013	29,875	22,556	8,638	13,918
2014	32,344	25,883	10,101	15,782
2015	39,968	38,147	13,945	24,202
2016	39,357	31,011	9,944	21,067
2017	34,435	27,850	8,564	19,286
2018	38,483	28,969	10,097	18,872
2019	45,537	28,575	15,080	13,495
2020	37,603	18,477	8,973	9,504
2021	57,942	17,866	12,953	4,913
2022	95,007	22,790	17,274	5,516
2023	87,427	91,556	61,478	30,078
2024	104,764	86,641	40,753	45,888
2025	101,911	135,740	55,117	80,623

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

What share of first decisions grant protection?

The grant rate fell from 76% in 2022 to 38% in the year to June 2026

Grants of refugee status, humanitarian protection or other leave as a share of grants plus refusals at initial decision, United Kingdom, calendar years.

United Kingdom · 2010 to 2025

1996–2026 displayed window · observations only. Shading marks years outside the displayed record.

The rate changes with the mix of nationalities claiming and with Home Office assessments of conditions in particular countries, so a change in the rate is not by itself evidence of stricter or looser decision-making. What the fall since 2022 does mean is more refusals at first decision; refused people can appeal, and support under Section 95 continues while an appeal is outstanding.

United Kingdom · 2010 to 2025 · Accredited official statistics

Sources, definitions and data

Geography:: United Kingdom
Measure:: Per cent of initial decisions (excluding withdrawals)
Period:: 2010 to 2025
Status:: Accredited official statistics
Calculation:: As published by the Home Office (Asy_00a).
Compare with:: 2010: 26%
Not included / breaks:: Initial decisions only. Appeals overturn some refusals, so the final share granted is higher; it is not published on a comparable basis.

Source: Home Office, Immigration system statistics: asylum summary tables, year ending June 2026, Asy_00a (released 27 August 2026). Chart MIG-08.

View the data as a table

Year	Grant rate
2010	25.6%
2011	32.5%
2012	36.1%
2013	37.7%
2014	41.2%
2015	39.9%
2016	34.0%
2017	31.9%
2018	32.9%
2019	52.0%
2020	46.3%
2021	72.2%
2022	75.9%
2023	67.2%
2024	47.3%
2025	42.1%

Support and accommodation

How many people are on asylum support, and how many in hotels?

93,293 people on asylum support; 16,021 of them in hotels

Asylum seekers receiving Home Office support (accommodation and/or subsistence), and the subset accommodated in hotels, United Kingdom, at the end of each year and the latest June.

United Kingdom · End of 2010 to the end of June 2026 (hotels from the end of 2022)

1996–2026 displayed window · observations only. Shading marks years outside the displayed record.

Support is for people who would otherwise be destitute while their claim or appeal is decided. The total rose from about 50,000 in 2019 to over 110,000 in 2022–24 and has fallen only since 2025. Hotels — a contingency the NAO found accounts for most of the accommodation cost — have fallen faster, from 45,753 to 16,021.

United Kingdom · End of 2010 to the end of June 2026 (hotels from the end of 2022) · Accredited official statistics

Sources, definitions and data

Geography:: United Kingdom — Asylum seekers and refused asylum seekers receiving Home Office support
Measure:: People, at a point in time
Period:: End of 2010 to the end of June 2026 (hotels from the end of 2022)
Status:: Accredited official statistics
Calculation:: As published by the Home Office (Asy_00a). Hotels are a subset of the total, not an addition to it.
Compare with:: Hotels peak in this series: 45,753 at the end of 2022
Not included / breaks:: Hotel counts are published only from the end of 2022. People granted protection leave support after a move-on period and are not counted.

Source: Home Office, Immigration system statistics: asylum summary tables, year ending June 2026, Asy_00a (released 27 August 2026). Chart MIG-09.

View the data as a table

As at	On support	In hotels
End 2010	22,689	not published
End 2011	21,856	not published
End 2012	21,249	not published
End 2013	29,487	not published
End 2014	36,223	not published
End 2015	40,169	not published
End 2016	45,152	not published
End 2017	46,652	not published
End 2018	50,426	not published
End 2019	50,091	not published
End 2020	64,041	not published
End 2021	84,457	not published
End 2022	110,171	45,753
End 2023	111,132	45,744
End 2024	112,187	38,054
End 2025	107,003	30,657
End June 2026	93,293	16,021

At the end of June 2026, 85,998 of the 93,293 people on support had it under Section 95 — people with a claim or appeal still outstanding, plus refused families with children. Only 4,987 were refused people supported because they cannot yet leave (Section 4), and 2,308 were on temporary support while an application was decided.

Small boats: one route into the asylum system

How many people were detected arriving by small boat?

41,472 small-boat arrivals were detected in 2025; the highest year was 2022

People detected arriving in the UK by small boat, by date of arrival, calendar years from 2018.

United Kingdom · 2018 to 2025; 33,374 in the year to June 2026

Crossings grew from a few hundred in 2018 to tens of thousands a year while detections inland and at ports shrank. Almost every small-boat arrival claims asylum, so crossings feed the asylum queue — but they are not the whole of it: in 2025, 39,238 asylum claims came from people who had held a visa, against 41,380 from small-boat arrivals.

United Kingdom · 2018 to 2025; 33,374 in the year to June 2026 · Accredited official statistics

Sources, definitions and data

Geography:: United Kingdom — Detected arrival events on one illegal entry route
Measure:: People detected per year
Period:: 2018 to 2025; 33,374 in the year to June 2026
Status:: Accredited official statistics
Calculation:: As published by the Home Office (IER_01).
Compare with:: Peak year 2022: 45,774
Not included / breaks:: Detected arrivals only. Not a count of people living here without permission, not long-term migrants, and not comparable with ONS migration estimates. Other detected methods (air arrivals without documents, detections inland and at ports) are smaller and in the table.

Source: Home Office, Immigration system statistics: illegal entry routes summary tables, year ending June 2026, IER_01 (released 27 August 2026). Chart MIG-04.

View the data as a table

Year	Small boat	Air, without documents	Detected inland	Detected at ports
2018	299	4,769	7,257	1,052
2019	1,843	5,237	8,492	959
2020	8,466	2,328	5,428	808
2021	28,526	2,561	5,036	662
2022	45,774	5,130	3,379	291
2023	29,437	3,854	2,836	236
2024	36,816	3,349	2,900	225
2025	41,472	3,016	1,816	204

Scroll the table sideways to see every column.

Why support has fallen more slowly than the queue: competing explanations

The work has moved to appeals. More first decisions, at a lower grant rate, means more refusals; many are appealed, and Section 95 support continues while an appeal is outstanding. Appeals queues are published by the Ministry of Justice, not in these tables, so this site cannot yet show how much of the system’s load has shifted there.

Claims are still high. 85,891 people claimed asylum in the year to June 2026. As long as new claims arrive at that rate, each person needs support from claim to decision, however fast decisions are.

Leaving support takes time. People granted protection have a short move-on period to find housing and work; refused people with children remain eligible; returns depend on other countries. Asylum-related returns were 12,568 in the year to June 2026, up from 1,565 in 2020 — a separate flow from arrivals, not a ratio of them.

Each explanation points to a different lever — tribunal capacity, decision quality, move-on support, returns agreements — which is why the options on the Immigration page treat them separately. A faster decision reduces the queue; when protection is granted, it does not reduce the number of people living here. The options are in What would move the needle?; what the published data can and cannot say about crime is on migration and crime.

Sources and methods (4)

Home Office, Immigration system statistics: asylum summary tables, year ending June 2026, Asy_00a (released 27 August 2026) — claims, decisions, grant rate, people awaiting a decision, support, hotels and returns (Asy_00a); support by type (Asy_09a)
Home Office, Immigration system statistics: asylum summary tables, year ending June 2026, Asy_01c (released 27 August 2026) — asylum claims by route before the claim
Home Office, Immigration system statistics: illegal entry routes summary tables, year ending June 2026, IER_01 (released 27 August 2026) — detected arrivals on illegal entry routes
National Audit Office, The Home Office’s asylum accommodation contracts (May 2025) — hotel share of accommodation costs

Method notes

Home Office figures count people (main applicants and dependants) unless stated. Flows are for calendar years or years to June; stocks are at the end of the period.
Small-boat counts in IER_01 use date of arrival; claims by route in Asy_01c use date of claim, so the two differ slightly.
Asylum statistics are not components of ONS long-term migration and are not expressed here as a share of it.
Appeals outcomes and queues have not been published in these tables since the year to March 2023; the Ministry of Justice publishes tribunal statistics separately.