A total of 108,138 people applied for asylum in the United Kingdom in 2024, marking the highest number of asylum requests in any 12-month period since records began in 2001.
This represents an 18% increase compared to the 91,811 requests lodged in 2023.
Breakdown of Asylum Applications
-Top Nationalities: Pakistani nationals accounted for 9.7% of total applications, followed by Afghan and Iranian nationals.
-Age and Sex: 59% of applicants were adult males, while 22% were adult females.
-Unaccompanied Asylum-Seeking Children (UASC):* 4,104 claims were made by UASC, with 76% of them aged 16-17 years old.
Vietnamese nationals also showed a notable surge in asylum applications, with a 113% increase to 5,259 in 2024, compared to 2,469 the previous year.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government faces increasing pressure to address migration issues. Starmer has pledged to strengthen immigration rules and dismantle people-smuggling gangs. Border Security and Asylum Minister Angela Eagle emphasized the government’s efforts to speed up asylum decision-making and enforce returns for those whose claims are not granted
Migration Statistics: Net Migration: 728,000 in 2023-2024, down from the previous year’s record high of 906,000. Small Boat Arrivals: 36,816 individuals crossed from France to England, making up 32% of asylum claims in 2024.
By the end of December 2024, there were 124,802 people awaiting an initial decision on their asylum application.
“We are also ensuring that legal migration continues to come down after previous government quadruple net migration in the space of four years,” Eagle said