Small-boat crossings fell by 23% over the latest year while the number of asylum seekers housed in hotels halved, according to new Home Office figures published today.
Official statistics show that around 33,000 people arrived in the UK by small boat in the year ending June 2026, down 23% compared with the previous 12 months.
At the end of June, 16,000 supported asylum seekers were living in hotels — 50% fewer than a year earlier — while the number of people awaiting an initial asylum decision had fallen to 40,000.
The figures provide the Government with evidence of substantial progress across several politically sensitive parts of the asylum system, although small-boat crossings remain broadly comparable with the elevated levels recorded in 2022 and 2024.
Small-boat crossings fall 23%
The Home Office recorded 38,086 detected arrivals through illegal entry routes in the year ending June 2026, 22% fewer than in the previous year.
Small boats remained overwhelmingly the most common detected route, accounting for 88% of the total, with around 33,000 arrivals.
The number arriving by small boat was 23% lower year-on-year.
However, the Home Office cautioned that the total remains broadly in line with the 31,000 small-boat arrivals recorded in the year ending June 2024 and the 35,000 recorded in the year ending June 2022.
The latest fall therefore represents a sharp improvement on the previous year rather than a return to the much lower crossing levels seen before 2021.
Asylum hotel population halves
At the end of June 2026, 16,000 people receiving asylum support were housed in hotels, representing 17% of the supported asylum population.
That was 50% lower than a year earlier.
Across all forms of asylum support, 93,000 people were receiving assistance at the end of June, down 12% year-on-year.
Asylum backlog falls 77% from 2023 peak
There were 40,000 people, relating to 32,000 cases, awaiting an initial asylum decision at the end of June.
That was 56% fewer than at the end of June 2025 and 77% below the peak of 175,000 people recorded at the end of June 2023.
The Home Office made 116,000 initial asylum decisions during the latest year, 2% more than during the previous 12 months and more than four times the annual average between 2010 and 2019.
The asylum grant rate stood at 38%, down from 48% in the previous year and substantially below the 77% peak recorded in the year ending September 2022.
Asylum claims fall 21%
There were 86,000 asylum claimants in the year ending June 2026, 21% fewer than in the previous year, although the Home Office said the number remains above levels typically recorded before 2021.
Just over half of asylum seekers had arrived through illegal entry routes such as small boats, while a further 41% had previously held a visa or another form of permission to be in the UK.
Returns rise to 41,000
A total of 41,000 returns were recorded in the year ending June 2026, including both enforced and voluntary departures, an increase of 8% from 38,000 in the previous year.
Of those, 9,700 were enforced returns, up 7%, while 31,000 were voluntary returns, up 9%.
There were also 6,000 returns of foreign national offenders, 12% more than in the previous year.
Immigration detention rises
There were 2,200 people detained under immigration powers at the end of June, 19% more than a year earlier.
During the full year, 22,000 people entered immigration detention, broadly unchanged from the previous year.
Government handed immigration boost — but crossings remain high
The new figures give Andy Burnham's Government a significant political boost on an issue that remains among the most contentious in British politics.
Small-boat arrivals, asylum claims, the initial-decision backlog and the number of people living in asylum hotels have all fallen year-on-year, while returns have increased.
But the Home Office's own comparison provides an important qualification: around 33,000 small-boat arrivals in the latest year remain broadly in line with the 31,000 recorded in the year ending June 2024 and 35,000 in the year ending June 2022.
The figures therefore show substantial recent progress without indicating that the Channel crossing problem has returned to historically low levels.