Asylum applications and refugees in the United Kingdom

56,362 asylum applications by refugees were received in 2021 in the United Kingdom — according to UNHCR. Most of them came from Iran, Iraq and from Eritrea. A total of 16,987 decisions have been made on initial applications. Around 70% of them were answered positively. 30 percent of asylum applications have been rejected in the first instance. The most successful have been the applications of refugees from Yemen and from Libya.

In a second table below you can find the refugees who fled from the United Kingdom and made their asylum application to other countries.

› Refugee countries by origin and destination

Back to overview: United Kingdom

Incoming asylum applications in the United Kingdom 2000 to 2021

The top line represents the total number of asylum applications (first applications + reviews). Below are the number of recognized refugees (green) and rejected applications (red).

Asylum applications from foreign refugees in the United Kingdom

The total number of initial and continuing applications refers to the year 2021. Please note that the number of decisions (acceptances or rejections) does not have to add up with the number of applications because there may still have been open cases from previous years. Also, they don't have to be closed within the same calendar year. In addition, asylum procedures can also be closed, if the applicant disappeared or withdrew the application.

Origin	Applied	Accepted	Rejected	Acceptance rate
	New Applications
Iran	10,446	2,462	285	89.6 %
Iraq	7,721	555	813	40.6 %
Eritrea	5,019	1,486	20	98.7 %
Albania	4,754	418	337	55.4 %
Syria	3,895	1,230	5	99.6 %
Afghanistan	3,088	792	173	82.1 %
Sudan	2,385	892	50	94.7 %
Vietnam	1,844	530	224	70.3 %
El Salvador	1,310	49	197	19.9 %
Pakistan	1,159	453	372	54.9 %
India	1,125	5	295	1.7 %
stateless	1,028	235	24	90.7 %
Nigeria	1,027	140	193	42.0 %
Bangladesh	887	111	286	28.0 %
Ethiopia	843	78	93	45.6 %
Kuwait	798	64	11	85.3 %
Turkey	748	467	108	81.2 %
Somalia	725	197	37	84.2 %
Egypt	595	92	84	52.3 %
Georgia	540	5	23	17.9 %
Honduras	529	5	30	14.3 %
Yemen	509	123	0	100.0 %
China	486	32	108	22.9 %
Libya	451	75	0	100.0 %
Sri Lanka	329	113	139	44.8 %
Israel	266	102	18	85.0 %
Russia	251	77	39	66.4 %
Algeria	250	15	70	17.6 %
Philippines	209	5	45	10.0 %
Chad	171	38	5	88.4 %
Namibia	169	26	86	23.2 %
Nepal	151	5	30	14.3 %
Brazil	137	5	44	10.2 %
Morocco	128	19	30	38.8 %
Nicaragua	126	19	0	100.0 %
Cameroon	124	79	43	64.8 %
Ghana	115	19	48	28.4 %
Hong Kong	115	12	26	31.6 %
Saudi Arabia	112	36	5	87.8 %
Ukraine	96	5	63	7.4 %
Gambia	93	11	14	44.0 %
Malaysia	93	25	38	39.7 %
South Sudan	89	11	0	100.0 %
Sierra Leone	68	30	35	46.2 %
Kenya	67	39	33	54.2 %
Lebanon	64	32	16	66.7 %
Zimbabwe	59	25	33	43.1 %
Uganda	57	56	30	65.1 %
Mexico	56	0	10	0.0 %
United States	54	5	5	50.0 %
Trinidad and Tobago	49	5	11	31.3 %
Guinea	47	17	10	63.0 %
Tunisia	46	0	13	0.0 %
unknown	45	361	14	96.3 %
Myanmar	44	19	0	100.0 %
Jordan	43	23	11	67.6 %
Belarus	39	5	0	100.0 %
Congo (Dem. Republic)	39	16	15	51.6 %
Kazakhstan	38	14	0	100.0 %
Azerbaijan	37	5	5	50.0 %
Thailand	33	0	13	0.0 %
Jamaica	32	5	30	14.3 %
Botswana	30	5	11	31.3 %
Ivory Coast	30	14	5	73.7 %
Angola	28	5	20	20.0 %
South Africa	28	0	27	0.0 %
Mauritius	24	5	17	22.7 %
Poland	23	0	21	0.0 %
Mali	22	5	0	100.0 %
Senegal	20	5	5	50.0 %
Serbia	20	0	12	0.0 %
Niger	17	5	0	100.0 %
Congo	16	5	5	50.0 %
Uzbekistan	16	0	10	0.0 %
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	16	5	0	100.0 %
Grenada	15	0	11	0.0 %
Indonesia	14	13	0	100.0 %
Turkmenistan	14	5	0	100.0 %
Romania	12	0	11	0.0 %
Tanzania	11	13	0	100.0 %
Barbados	10	0	0
Mongolia	10	0	5	0.0 %
Venezuela	10	5	11	31.3 %
Zambia	10	5	0	100.0 %
Burundi	9	5	0	100.0 %
Benin	8	0	0
Hungary	8	0	5	0.0 %
Oman	8	5	0	100.0 %
Argentina	7	5	0	100.0 %
Central Africa	7	0	5	0.0 %
Colombia	7	0	5	0.0 %
Dominica	7	0	5	0.0 %
Malawi	7	5	11	31.3 %
Rwanda	7	5	0	100.0 %
United Arab Emirates	7	0	0
Qatar	6	10	0	100.0 %
Bolivia	5	0	10	0.0 %
Czechia	5	0	5	0.0 %
Kyrgyzstan	5	5	0	100.0 %
Liberia	5	0	5	0.0 %
Western Sahara	5	5	0	100.0 %
Antigua and Barbuda	0	0	5	0.0 %
Bahrain	0	5	0	100.0 %
Bosnia and Herzegovina	0	5	0	100.0 %
Chile	0	0	5	0.0 %
Cuba	0	5	0	100.0 %
Gabon	0	5	0	100.0 %
Guyana	0	0	5	0.0 %
Italy	0	5	0	100.0 %
North Korea	0	0	5	0.0 %
Maldives	0	5	0	100.0 %
Seychelles	0	5	0	100.0 %
Totals	56,362	11,950	5,037	70.3 %

Origin	Applied	Accepted	Rejected	Acceptance rate
	Reviews
Iran	372	189	86	68.7 %
Iraq	826	319	363	46.8 %
Eritrea	43	28	12	70.0 %
Albania	241	124	87	58.8 %
Syria	31	20	5	80.0 %
Afghanistan	259	116	61	65.5 %
Sudan	65	18	12	60.0 %
Vietnam	223	52	35	59.8 %
El Salvador	142	58	27	68.2 %
Pakistan	296	58	153	27.5 %
India	114	34	75	31.2 %
stateless	26	27	0	100.0 %
Nigeria	144	60	83	42.0 %
Bangladesh	287	49	118	29.3 %
Ethiopia	132	76	42	64.4 %
Kuwait	9	11	0	100.0 %
Turkey	95	33	21	61.1 %
Somalia	40	21	12	63.6 %
Egypt	74	12	26	31.6 %
Georgia	23	0	13	0.0 %
Honduras	24	5	14	26.3 %
Yemen	49	14	0	100.0 %
China	62	14	45	23.7 %
Libya	13	5	5	50.0 %
Sri Lanka	113	70	36	66.0 %
Israel	18	15	14	51.7 %
Russia	31	19	0	100.0 %
Algeria	41	10	16	38.5 %
Philippines	38	5	10	33.3 %
Chad	9	5	0	100.0 %
Namibia	60	28	53	34.6 %
Nepal	19	5	11	31.3 %
Brazil	8	5	5	50.0 %
Morocco	34	5	13	27.8 %
Nicaragua	5	0	5	0.0 %
Cameroon	42	10	12	45.5 %
Ghana	27	11	22	33.3 %
Hong Kong	14	0	0
Saudi Arabia	5	5	0	100.0 %
Ukraine	26	13	13	50.0 %
Gambia	12	11	0	100.0 %
Malaysia	33	0	11	0.0 %
South Sudan	5	0	5	0.0 %
Sierra Leone	30	12	5	70.6 %
Kenya	31	10	14	41.7 %
Lebanon	17	5	5	50.0 %
Zimbabwe	33	19	20	48.7 %
Uganda	33	11	10	52.4 %
Mexico	5	0	0
United States	0	0	0
Trinidad and Tobago	10	5	5	50.0 %
Guinea	5	5	5	50.0 %
Tunisia	7	0	5	0.0 %
unknown	6	16	0	100.0 %
Myanmar	0	0	5	0.0 %
Jordan	8	0	5	0.0 %
Belarus	0	5	0	100.0 %
Congo (Dem. Republic)	15	10	10	50.0 %
Kazakhstan	5	10	0	100.0 %
Azerbaijan	6	5	0	100.0 %
Thailand	7	0	5	0.0 %
Jamaica	16	0	13	0.0 %
Botswana	5	0	0
Ivory Coast	8	5	5	50.0 %
Angola	14	11	5	68.8 %
South Africa	16	12	0	100.0 %
Mauritius	5	0	5	0.0 %
Poland	0	0	0
Mali	5	5	0	100.0 %
Senegal	0	0	5	0.0 %
Serbia	5	0	5	0.0 %
Niger	0	0	0
Congo	5	0	0
Uzbekistan	5	0	0
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	5	0	0
Grenada	7	0	0
Indonesia	0	0	0
Turkmenistan	0	0	0
Romania	0	0	0
Tanzania	5	11	0	100.0 %
Barbados	0	0	0
Mongolia	5	0	5	0.0 %
Venezuela	5	5	0	100.0 %
Zambia	0	0	0
Burundi	0	5	0	100.0 %
Benin	0	0	0
Hungary	0	0	0
Oman	0	0	0
Argentina	0	0	0
Central Africa	0	0	0
Colombia	5	0	0
Dominica	0	0	0
Malawi	5	5	0	100.0 %
Rwanda	5	5	0	100.0 %
United Arab Emirates	0	0	0
Qatar	0	0	0
Bolivia	5	0	0
Czechia	0	0	0
Kyrgyzstan	0	5	0	100.0 %
Liberia	0	0	0
Western Sahara	0	0	0
Antigua and Barbuda	0	0	0
Bahrain	0	0	0
Bosnia and Herzegovina	0	0	0
Chile	5	0	0
Cuba	0	0	5	0.0 %
Gabon	0	0	0
Guyana	0	0	0
Italy	0	0	0
North Korea	0	0	0
Maldives	0	0	0
Seychelles	0	0	0
Totals	4,484	1,742	1,663	51.2 %

Asylum applications of refugees from the United Kingdom

The United Kingdom is one of the countries where refugees are not only coming in. In the year 2021, there have been 97 asylum applications received from citizens from the United Kingdom in other countries. The most successful have been the applications in the United Kingdom and in Austria.

Destination	Applied	Accepted	Rejected	Acceptance rate
	New Applications
Australia	55	0	17	0.0 %
Canada	10	5	5	50.0 %
Germany	6	0	5	0.0 %
United States	6	0	0
Austria	5	5	0	100.0 %
United Kingdom	5	11	0	100.0 %
Spain	5	0	5	0.0 %
Sweden	5	0	5	0.0 %
Totals	97	21	37	36.2 %

Destination	Applied	Accepted	Rejected	Acceptance rate
	Reviews
Australia	0	0	5	0.0 %
Canada	7	0	5	0.0 %
Germany	0	0	0
United States	6	0	0
Austria	0	0	0
United Kingdom	0	0	0
Spain	0	0	0
Sweden	0	0	0
Totals	13	0	10	0.0 %

National migrant stock from 1960 to 2020

In 2020 a total of 9,359,587 migrants lived in the United Kingdom, representing about 14 percent of the total population. These are all residents who live permanently in the country but were born in another country. The numbers includes granted refugees but no asylum seekers. The data are based on the results of censuses, as well as on estimates and projections from the United Nations Population Division.

(Values of the graph in millions of immigrants)

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