UK asylum claims hit highest level since 1979

The number of people claiming asylum in the UK in 2024 has reached its highest level since records began in 1979, Home Office figures show.

According to data published on Thursday, 108,138 people claimed asylum in the year to December 2024 – an increase of 18% on 2023 and almost twice the number in 2021.

The Home Office said the previous recorded peak was in 2002.

The new high follows an uptick in recorded small boat arrivals in recent years. The number of small boat arrivals also increased in 2024 – 25% higher than in 2023 – but the figure was 20% lower than in 2022.

The UK now receives the fifth largest number of asylum seekers in the “EU plus” area at a time when the government is under pressure to cut the asylum decision backlog.

These figures, which cover the end of the Conservative government and the start of Labour, show the number of asylum cases awaiting an initial decision fell by 5% last year – with more than 90,600 cases, relating to around 124,800 people, pending a decision as of the end of 2024.

The number remains higher than before 2022.

The UK also sent more people into immigration detention last year, with that figure increasing by 12%.

Meanwhile, the UK returned 2,251 people to another country who had arrived by small boat last year, a 10% increase compared to 2023.

There has also been a sharp increase in people granted citizenship – with the figure standing at more than 269,600 in 2024.