Irregular Migration

This page presents data on irregular migration to the UK from 2018 to 2024. Data for the current year is not included in this dataset.
For current year data, visit the Small Boat Arrivals page.

Small Boat Arrivals

The data below represents amount of detected individual arrivals, not amount of boats.

0 953 1,905 2,858 3,811 4,763 5,716 6,669 7,621 8,574 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 2018-2024: 151,161 Brexit Fri, 31 Jan 2020 MOD Operational Command Thu, 14 Apr 2022 - Tue, 31 Jan 2023 Theresa May | - Wed, 24 Jul 2019 Boris Johnson Wed, 24 Jul 2019 - Tue, 6 Sep 2022 Liz Truss Tue, 6 Sep 2022 - Tue, 25 Oct 2022 Rishi Sunak Tue, 25 Oct 2022 - Fri, 5 Jul 2024 Keir Starmer Fri, 5 Jul 2024 Monthly Arrivals
Last sync:
Sources:
GOV.UK | Irregular migration to the UK summary tables, year ending December 2024
irregular-migration-to-the-uk-summary-dec-2024.ods | (Irr_02a)
GOV.UK | Migrants detected crossing the English Channel in small boats - monthly data
The MOD took operational command of responding to small boat crossings in the English Channel on 14 April 2022, this returned to the Home Office on 31 January 2023.

Small Boat Arrivals - Summary

A total of 151,161 arrivals via small boats have been detected since .

2018
299
2019
1,843
2020
8,466
2021
28,526
2022
45,774
2023
29,437
2024
36,816

Small Boat Arrivals - Returns

The data below represents amount of individual returns, not amount of boats.

0 2,256 4,511 6,767 9,023 11,278 13,534 15,790 18,045 20,301 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Arrivals: 151,161 Returned: 4,995 Quarterly Returns
Last sync:
Source:
GOV.UK | Irregular migration to the UK summary tables, year ending December 2024
irregular-migration-to-the-uk-summary-dec-2024.ods | (Irr_01 & Irr_02e)

Small Boat Arrivals - Returns Summary

A total of 4,995 enforced and voluntary returns of small boat arrivals have been recorded since .

2018
9
2019
128
2020
147
2021
28
2022
385
2023
2,047
2024
2,251

Small Boat Arrivals - By Nationality

The data below represents amount of individual arrivals, not amount of boats.

2024 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 South Sudan Sri Lanka Libya Georgia Somalia Stateless Yemen Ethiopia Kuwait India Egypt Not recorded All other Turkey Vietnam Sudan Eritrea Syria Albania Iraq Afghanistan Iran 2018-2024: 151,161 311 332 374 311 690 244 1.3K 487 972 292 376 1.5K 715 1.9K 3.6K 2.7K 3.4K 4.6K 616 2.1K 5.9K 4.2K 256 296 223 572 248 51 91 249 309 1.2K 810 1K 563 3.1K 1.3K 1.7K 2.7K 2.3K 927 2.5K 5.5K 3.6K 129 182 133 313 86 198 160 530 374 748 1.2K 200 907 1.1K 505 1.8K 2K 3K 13K 4.6K 9.1K 5.8K 62 80 160 0 318 498 135 544 537 67 366 582 627 69 1.4K 1.1K 2.9K 2.5K 815 6.1K 1.4K 8.3K 34 18 28 3 14 389 252 108 79 64 53 0 471 10 118 969 511 776 54 1.6K 494 2.4K 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 5 2 0 1 0 48 2 3 0 0 14 13 471 69 1.2K 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0 4 0 0 1 16 33 3 238 Yearly Arrivals
Last sync:
Source:
GOV.UK | Irregular migration to the UK summary tables, year ending December 2024
irregular-migration-to-the-uk-summary-dec-2024.ods | (Irr_02b)
Nationality 2018201920202021202220232024 Total
Iran
238
1,213
2,373
8,319
5,841
3,582
4,158
25,724
Afghanistan
3
69
494
1,437
9,088
5,511
5,919
22,521
Iraq
33
471
1,648
6,117
4,574
2,536
2,064
17,443
Albania
16
13
54
815
12,658
927
616
15,099
Syria
1
14
776
2,451
3,006
2,275
4,630
13,153
Eritrea
0
0
511
2,875
2,020
2,666
3,380
11,452
Sudan
0
0
969
1,064
1,762
1,658
2,695
8,148
Vietnam
4
3
118
1,403
505
1,306
3,602
6,941
Turkey
0
2
10
69
1,127
3,058
1,911
6,177
All other
4
48
471
627
907
563
715
3,335
Not recorded
0
0
0
582
200
1,036
1,457
3,275
Egypt
0
1
53
366
1,233
810
376
2,839
India
0
0
64
67
748
1,214
292
2,385
Kuwait
0
2
79
537
374
309
972
2,273
Ethiopia
0
5
108
544
530
249
487
1,923
Yemen
0
0
252
135
160
91
1,280
1,918
Stateless
0
2
389
498
198
51
244
1,382
Somalia
0
0
14
318
86
248
690
1,356
Georgia
0
0
3
0
313
572
311
1,199
Libya
0
0
28
160
133
223
374
918
Sri Lanka
0
0
18
80
182
296
332
908
South Sudan
0
0
34
62
129
256
311
792

Small Boat Arrivals - By Age/Sex

The data below represents amount of individual arrivals, not amount of boats.

0 4,459 8,919 13,378 17,837 22,297 26,756 31,215 35,675 40,134 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024 Male Female Unknown Yearly Arrivals
Last sync:
Source:
GOV.UK | Irregular migration to the UK summary tables, year ending December 2024
irregular-migration-to-the-uk-summary-dec-2024.ods | (Irr_02c)
Sex Age Group 2018201920202021202220232024
male 17 and under
16
207
1,089
3,347
6,400
4,312
3,752
male 18 to 24
39
264
1,785
9,035
14,774
9,067
11,453
male 25 to 39
185
919
3,840
11,059
15,993
9,727
13,366
male 40 and over
33
164
669
1,448
2,767
1,725
2,180
male Total
273
1,554
7,383
24,889
39,934
24,831
30,751
female 17 and under
9
101
360
925
1,671
938
1,042
female 18 to 24
2
24
141
533
970
756
1,225
female 25 to 39
14
125
427
1,224
2,200
1,441
1,853
female 40 and over
1
39
155
297
580
413
487
female Total
26
289
1,083
2,979
5,421
3,548
4,607
unknown 17 and under
0
0
0
49
90
3
0
unknown 18 to 24
0
0
0
11
65
10
0
unknown 25 to 39
0
0
0
10
49
9
1
unknown 40 and over
0
0
0
6
15
0
0
unknown Total
0
0
0
76
219
22
1