UK Asylum Claims Slightly Decrease in 2025, But Small Boat Crossings Rise 13%

Government statistics published Thursday show that the number of people claiming asylum in the UK in 2025 has slightly decreased compared to the previous year. However, arrivals via small boats carrying refugees saw a 13 percent increase.

Home Office data indicates that 100,625 people applied for asylum in the UK last year, a four percent drop compared to 2024, but still more than double the pre-pandemic level.

More than half (52 percent) arrived in the UK via illegal entry routes (usually in small boats crossing from France to the southeast coast of England).

Cross-Channel crossings have become a politically contentious issue in the UK, helping to fuel the rise of Nigel Farage's anti-immigration 'Reform UK Party,' which has led the UK since last year's election.

Images of recent such arrivals being brought ashore by Border Force on Wednesday served as a stark reminder of the border crossings that Prime Minister Keir Starmer's government has failed to stop.

Home Office statistics confirmed on Thursday that 605 migrants were intercepted the previous day, the highest number in a 24-hour period this year.

French authorities also reported rescuing 119 people attempting to cross the border.

The new annual figures show that 41,472 people arrived in the UK using small boats last year, compared to 36,816 in 2024. This represents a 13 percent increase. Starmer, who took office in July last year, had promised to "smash the gangs" facilitating illegal migrant journeys.

However, the number of arrivals is lower than the peak figure of 45,774 recorded in 2022.

Meanwhile, the number of asylum seekers temporarily housed in UK hotels has dropped to 30,657, the lowest level in 18 months.

The issue of so-called 'asylum hotels' has prompted widespread protests, and Starmer's government has pledged to end their use by the end of the current Parliament (2029).

However, some alternatives, including the use of former military barracks, have caused controversy and opposition in local areas.

Eritreans made up nearly 20 percent of those arriving by small boat in 2025, while Afghans and Iranians accounted for 12 percent each, and Sudanese for 11 percent.

Data shows that the number of individuals waiting for an initial decision on their asylum application at the end of 2025 fell sharply to the lowest level in over five years.

During this period, approximately 64,426 people were waiting for an initial decision on their asylum application, nearly half the number from a year earlier and significantly lower than the peak figure of 175,457 at the end of 2023.