Asylum claims and initial decisions, UK
The latest quarters are provisional and will be revised in a future publication
People claiming asylum in the UK and people receiving an initial decision on their claim, each quarter since 2001. Main applicants and their dependants.
People claiming asylum
17,233
Q2 2026 · provisional
Verified against source, 29 October 2026, 11:48 UTC- People claiming asylum
- People receiving an initial decision
Source: Home Office. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Data table
102 periods, newest first
| Period | People claiming asylum | People receiving an initial decision |
|---|---|---|
| Q2 2026 | 17,233 | 19,079 |
| Q1 2026 | 15,956 | 28,033 |
| Q4 2025 | 22,400 | 33,840 |
| Q3 2025 | 30,302 | 34,920 |
| Q2 2025 | 27,369 | 31,978 |
| Q1 2025 | 21,840 | 35,002 |
| Q4 2024 | 30,151 | 32,146 |
| Q3 2024 | 29,225 | 14,081 |
| Q2 2024 | 23,880 | 16,152 |
| Q1 2024 | 21,508 | 24,262 |
| Q4 2023 | 22,478 | 47,708 |
| Q3 2023 | 26,823 | 28,222 |
| Q2 2023 | 19,591 | 9,453 |
| Q1 2023 | 18,535 | 6,173 |
| Q4 2022 | 29,183 | 6,855 |
| Q3 2022 | 30,368 | 6,161 |
| Q2 2022 | 19,435 | 4,789 |
| Q1 2022 | 16,021 | 4,985 |
| Q4 2021 | 22,389 | 4,345 |
| Q3 2021 | 17,823 | 4,003 |
| Q2 2021 | 10,539 | 4,654 |
| Q1 2021 | 7,191 | 4,864 |
| Q4 2020 | 9,982 | 4,585 |
| Q3 2020 | 10,688 | 3,468 |
| Q2 2020 | 6,102 | 3,470 |
| Q1 2020 | 10,831 | 6,954 |
| Q4 2019 | 12,358 | 7,101 |
| Q3 2019 | 11,875 | 6,950 |
| Q2 2019 | 9,772 | 6,838 |
| Q1 2019 | 11,532 | 7,686 |
| Q4 2018 | 10,966 | 6,586 |
| Q3 2018 | 9,883 | 6,897 |
| Q2 2018 | 8,676 | 7,155 |
| Q1 2018 | 8,958 | 8,331 |
| Q4 2017 | 9,200 | 7,108 |
| Q3 2017 | 8,471 | 6,632 |
| Q2 2017 | 8,039 | 6,447 |
| Q1 2017 | 8,725 | 7,663 |
| Q4 2016 | 9,410 | 7,696 |
| Q3 2016 | 9,448 | 7,637 |
| Q2 2016 | 10,080 | 7,522 |
| Q1 2016 | 10,419 | 8,156 |
| Q4 2015 | 12,034 | 8,733 |
| Q3 2015 | 12,311 | 8,622 |
| Q2 2015 | 7,835 | 8,078 |
| Q1 2015 | 7,788 | 12,714 |
| Q4 2014 | 8,426 | 9,444 |
| Q3 2014 | 9,062 | 8,142 |
| Q2 2014 | 7,095 | 4,690 |
| Q1 2014 | 7,761 | 3,607 |
| Q4 2013 | 7,628 | 4,042 |
| Q3 2013 | 7,766 | 5,477 |
| Q2 2013 | 7,330 | 6,338 |
| Q1 2013 | 7,151 | 6,699 |
| Q4 2012 | 7,884 | 5,469 |
| Q3 2012 | 7,405 | 5,262 |
| Q2 2012 | 6,363 | 5,135 |
| Q1 2012 | 6,326 | 5,993 |
| Q4 2011 | 6,868 | 5,384 |
| Q3 2011 | 6,591 | 5,607 |
| Q2 2011 | 6,225 | 5,457 |
| Q1 2011 | 6,214 | 6,346 |
| Q4 2010 | 5,866 | 6,271 |
| Q3 2010 | 5,606 | 6,437 |
| Q2 2010 | 5,618 | 6,764 |
| Q1 2010 | 5,554 | 6,980 |
| Q4 2009 | 6,052 | 8,128 |
| Q3 2009 | 6,450 | 9,346 |
| Q2 2009 | 7,601 | 7,169 |
| Q1 2009 | 10,570 | 6,313 |
| Q4 2008 | 8,129 | 5,776 |
| Q3 2008 | 8,181 | 6,497 |
| Q2 2008 | 7,068 | 6,206 |
| Q1 2008 | 7,936 | 5,323 |
| Q4 2007 | 8,170 | 5,503 |
| Q3 2007 | 7,185 | 6,410 |
| Q2 2007 | 6,031 | 7,325 |
| Q1 2007 | 6,914 | 7,434 |
| Q4 2006 | 6,966 | 6,297 |
| Q3 2006 | 7,222 | 5,614 |
| Q2 2006 | 6,491 | 5,985 |
| Q1 2006 | 7,649 | 7,589 |
| Q4 2005 | 7,395 | 6,867 |
| Q3 2005 | 7,806 | 7,920 |
| Q2 2005 | 7,271 | 8,723 |
| Q1 2005 | 8,369 | 9,699 |
| Q4 2004 | 10,102 | 10,363 |
| Q3 2004 | 10,483 | 13,473 |
| Q2 2004 | 9,307 | 13,809 |
| Q1 2004 | 10,731 | 17,747 |
| Q4 2003 | 13,211 | 18,666 |
| Q3 2003 | 14,997 | 17,985 |
| Q2 2003 | 12,710 | 18,137 |
| Q1 2003 | 19,129 | 25,580 |
| Q4 2002 | 27,430 | 24,699 |
| Q3 2002 | 27,891 | 26,154 |
| Q2 2002 | 24,888 | 24,036 |
| Q1 2002 | 22,872 | 28,563 |
| Q4 2001 | 17,720 | 21,825 |
| Q3 2001 | 18,617 | 23,567 |
| Q2 2001 | 15,683 | 28,329 |
| Q1 2001 | 19,007 | 47,228 |
Source and licence
- Publisher
- Home Office
- Check it yourself
- https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables
- Licence
- Open Government Licence v3.0 – Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
- Retrieved
- 29 October 2026, 11:46 UTC
- Raw files fetched
- https://www.gov.uk/api/content/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tablesSHA-256 227db69d3415bc20cd0891768f1d87e98187ee4669691d23f8ac9ddb5360d496 · 126,811 bytes
- https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a85c2d7c9205b515d421eeb/asylum-claims-datasets-jun-2026.xlsxSHA-256 10788dae8042fdb4f49ce4fc1447335a5cc868df48349969d66185bfda12e02f · 12,348,229 bytes
Verification
Verified against source, 29 October 2026, 11:48 UTC Run at 29 October 2026, 11:48 UTC; 204 of 204 figures matched the live source.
| Result | Check | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Pass | Provenance recorded | Home Office; Open Government Licence v3.0; retrieved 2026-10-29T11:46:05Z; 2 raw file(s) |
| Pass | Raw files match recorded SHA-256 | 2 of 2 files intact |
| Pass | Re-parsing raw files reproduces figures | 204 of 204 figures and the headline reproduced |
| Pass | Figures are finite numbers | 204 figures, 0 invalid |
| Pass | Live source matches every figure | 204 of 204 figures match exactly after downloading 2 source file(s) again (2 byte-identical); the headline matches |
| Pass | GOV.UK table is current | latest period 2026 Q2 ended 121 days before retrieval (limit 200), from Asylum claims and initial decisions detailed datasets, year ending June 2026 |
| Pass | Asylum summary table Asy_00a agrees | 36 of 36 figures match Asy_00a's 18 years in https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6a85c315b0504df9f2c89800/asylum-summary-jun-2026-tables.ods, each the sum of the stored quarters |
| Pass | Source page answers | https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/immigration-system-statistics-data-tables – HTTP 200 |
Notes
- People are main applicants and their dependants. Figures for 2001 count main applicants only; the Home Office's quarterly figures for dependants begin in 2002.
- Initial decisions are grants of protection or other leave and refusals; withdrawn claims and administrative outcomes are left out, as in the Home Office's own tables. A decision may relate to a claim made in an earlier quarter.