Pakistani Nationals Top UK Asylum Claims in 2024/25
The number of people applying for asylum in the UK has reached a record high, despite a notable fall in the backlog of pending applications, new figures from the Home Office have revealed.
In the year to March 2025, a total of 109,343 individuals lodged asylum claims, the highest annual figure since current records began in 2001. This represents a 17% increase compared with the 93,150 applications received in the previous 12 months to March 2024.
The rise surpasses the previous record of 108,138 asylum claims in the year to December 2024, marking a continued upward trend in people seeking refuge in Britain.
A significant proportion—33% of all applicants—were migrants who arrived via small boats crossing the English Channel, continuing to underscore the ongoing challenge faced by UK border agencies in tackling irregular migration routes.
Notably, Pakistani nationals emerged as the most common nationality among asylum seekers, with 11,048 applications, accounting for 10.1% of the total. This marks a substantial increase from 7,003 applications in 2023/24, when Pakistan ranked third.
Afghan nationals came second, lodging 8,069 claims (7.4%), a decrease from 9,738 in the previous year, when they topped the list with 10.5%. Meanwhile, asylum applications from Syrian nationals saw one of the steepest rises, jumping from 4,232 to 6,175, making up 5.6% of total applications.
Despite the surge in applications, the Home Office reported a 12% drop in the backlog of initial decisions. At the end of March 2025, 109,536 people were awaiting an initial ruling, down from 124,802 at the end of December 2024. This is the lowest figure recorded since December 2021 and a marked improvement from the peak of 175,457 in June 2023.
The number of people waiting more than six months for a decision also decreased, falling to 67,373 from 73,866 in December, and less than half the record high of 139,961 in mid-2023.
Figures released concurrently show a slight dip in enforced returns. In the first quarter of 2025, 2,312 enforced returns were carried out, compared with 2,365 in the final quarter of 2024. Still, both figures are higher than any other quarter since 2018.
Enforced returns are one of three types overseen by the Home Office, alongside voluntary returns (where individuals leave the UK without formal enforcement) and port returns (for individuals refused entry at UK borders).
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper welcomed the figures, stating:
“We have substantially increased immigration enforcement, taking strong action to return more foreign criminals and failed asylum seekers who have no right to be in the UK.”
She added:
More Read
“The work of Immigration Enforcement teams to substantially increase illegal working raids, returns and deportations is an important part of strengthening our border security. As part of the Immigration White Paper reforms, we will strengthen the rules so that more foreign national offenders can be returned.”
In the three months to March, 482 migrants who crossed the Channel in small boats were either forcibly or voluntarily returned—down from 558 in the previous quarter. In total, 2,240 Channel crossers were returned in the year to March 2025, slightly lower than the 2,316 returned the year before.
Of those, 80% were Albanian nationals, echoing the trend from 2023/24, where Albanians made up 88% of returns.
The report also notes that 5,154 foreign national offenders were returned in the year to March 2025—the highest annual figure since June 2019.
The Home Office’s latest data paints a complex picture of rising demand for asylum juxtaposed against gradual progress in processing claims and enforcing immigration laws.
