Author
Overview of statistical practice (1)
Statistics on asylum are published as part of a package of immigration statistics on a quarterly basis by the National Statistics authority,[1] using Home Office administrative sources. Where statistics are not made available, they are requested directly from the Home Office using a Parliamentary Question.[2] Difficulties have also been encountered with regard to Home Office responses to freedom of information (FOI) requests.[3] The numbers include dependants.
Applications and granting of protection status at first instance: figures for 2023
| Applicants in 2023 (2) | Pending at
end of 2023 |
Total decisions in 2023 (3) | Total rejection (4) | Refugee status | Subsidiary protection (5) | Humanitarian protection (6) | |
| Total | 84,425[4] | 95,252[5] | 93,303[6] | 30,967 | 57,398 | 1,367 | 3,571 |
|
Breakdown by countries of origin of the total numbers |
|||||||
| Afghanistan | 9,307 | N/A | 9,593 | 86 | 9,491 | 10 | 6 |
| Iran | 7,397 | N/A | 11,836 | 1,683 | 10,057 | 62 | 34 |
| India | 5,253 | N/A | 1,661 | 1,519 | 85 | 49 | 8 |
| Pakistan | 5,273 | N/A | 3,231 | 1,448 | 1,721 | 61 | 1 |
| Türkiye | 4,255 | N/A | 1,805 | 224 | 1,558 | 19 | 4 |
| Eritrea | 3,870 | N/A | 6,277 | 36 | 6,236 | 0 | 5 |
| Bangladesh | 4,258 | N/A | 3,050 | 2,153 | 808 | 87 | 2 |
| Albania | 3,898 | N/A | 7,616 | 6,631 | 785 | 195 | 5 |
| Syria | 3,772 | N/A | 6,282 | 49 | 6,225 | 3 | 5 |
| Sudan | 3,452 | N/A | 4,548 | 106 | 3,784 | 4 | 654 |
Source: Home Office, Immigration Statistics, available at: https://tinyurl.com/bdhnwfkr and https://tinyurl.com/6dnb7mfe. Number of decisions excludes withdrawn claims and resettlement.
Note 1: statistics on applicants and pending concern people, including children and dependents. The rest of the columns concern number of decisions as that is usually the (only) data available.
Note 2: “Applicants in year” refers to the total number of applicants, and not only to first-time applicants.
Note 3: Statistics on decisions cover the decisions taken throughout the year, regardless of whether they concern applications lodged that year or in previous years.
Note 4: “Rejection” includes both inadmissibility and in-merit decisions together, as there was only one inadmissibility decision in 2023.
Note 5: The figures here are described as “other grants” in the Home Office statistics and include grants made under family and private rules where there would be a breach of Article 8 ECHR, as well as where there are other exceptional and compassionate circumstances.
Note 6: As noted in the glossary, this is referred to as humanitarian protection at the national level, and is equivalent to subsidiary protection under EU law.
Applications and granting of protection status at first instance: rates for 2023
| Overall rejection rate | Overall protection rate | Refugee rate | Subsidiary
protection rate |
Humanitarian
protection rate |
|
| Total | 33% | 67% | 62% | 1% | 4% |
|
Breakdown by countries of origin of the total numbers |
|||||
| Afghanistan | 1% | 99% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Iran | 14% | 86% | 85% | 1% | 0% |
| India | 91% | 9% | 5% | 3% | 0% |
| Pakistan | 45% | 55% | 53% | 2% | 0% |
| Türkiye | 12% | 87% | 86% | 1% | 0% |
| Eritrea | 1% | 99% | 99% | 0% | 0% |
| Bangladesh | 71% | 29% | 26% | 3% | 0% |
| Albania | 87% | 13% | 10% | 3% | 0% |
| Syria | 1% | 99% | 99% | 0% | 0% |
| Sudan | 2% | 98% | 83% | 0% | 14% |
Source of the percentages: calculated by the author using data in the table above, as a percentage of decisions that have been made.
Note: given that there was only 1 inadmissibility decision in 2023, these rates are calculated based on total decisions.
Gender/age breakdown of the total number of applicants: 2023
| Adults | Children | ||
| Accompanied | Unaccompanied | ||
| Number | 67,963 | 13,074 | 3,386 |
| Percentage | 81% | 15% | 4% |
| Men | Women | |
| Number | 60,800 | 23,457 |
| Percentage | 72% | 28% |
Source: Home Office, Immigration system statistics data tables, Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets, year ending December 2023, table Asy_D01, available at: https://tinyurl.com/bdhnwfkr.
Note: The gender breakdown (Men/Women) applies to all applicants, not only adults.
First instance and appeal decision rates: 2023
It should be noted that, during the same year, the first instance and appeal authorities handle different caseloads. Thus, the decisions below do not concern the same applicants.
| First instance | Appeal (Jan-March 2023) | |||
| Number | Percentage | Number | Percentage | |
| Total number of decisions | 93,303 | 1,220 (1) | ||
| Positive decisions | 62,336 | 67% | 603 | 49% |
| Negative decisions | 30,967 | 33% | 495 | 41% |
Source: Home Office, Immigration system statistics data tables, Asylum appeals lodged and determined detailed datasets, year ending March 2023, table AsyD_07, 29 February 2024, available at: https://tinyurl.com/bdhnwfkr.
Note 1: 122 appeals were withdrawn.
[1] National Statistics Authority, available at: https://www.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/. See also Home Office, Immigration Statistics, available at: https://tinyurl.com/bdhnwfkr.
[2] Parliament, Parliamentary Questions, available at: http://bit.ly/2kL0olB.
[3] See e.g. Information Commissioner’s Office, Decision notices where a complaint has been upheld against the Home Office, available at: https://tinyurl.com/yc8j7pzs.
[4] Home Office, Immigration system statistics data tables, Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets, year ending December 2023, table Asy_D01, 29 February 2024, available at: https://tinyurl.com/bdhnwfkr.
[5] Home Office, Immigration system statistics data tables, Asylum and resettlement summary tables, year ending December 2023, table Asy_10a, 29 February 2024, available at: https://tinyurl.com/bdhnwfkr. This data is not broken down by nationality.
[6] Home Office, Immigration system statistics data tables, Asylum applications, initial decisions and resettlement detailed datasets, year ending December 2023, table Asy_D02, 29 February 2024, available at: https://tinyurl.com/bdhnwfkr.