All yearsArrivals in the UK2012 to 2025, added up
One person can count more than once.2025 is a first estimate.1 face = 10,000 arrivals
Shows everyone who lives in the UK beside the people who moved here, at the same scale. Every dot is 1,000 people.ONS [1]
Dates for reference. These dates do not show a cause.
Drag to guess. 1 face = 1,000 people.
- 1 face = 1,000 people
- 1 face = 10,000 arrivals
- 1 face = 1,000 arrivals
- 1 dot = 1,000 people, the same as 1 face
- 1 block = 1 million people
- 1 face = 1 in 100 people
- 1 door = 1,000 households a year.
- 1 house = 1,000 homes.
Sources: GOV.UK (Open Government Licence v3.0) for Prime Ministers, and the official source linked in each panel for milestones and rule changes.
Table
How counted
Arrivals count moves lasting a year or more.
The total uses the ONS method from 2012 onwards. Earlier methods are outside this total.
Annual arrivals added here, using ONS figures.
The faces are illustrations. No face represents a real person.
Asylum and small boats
These counts can overlap. Never add them together.
On this page
Visas granted, asylum claims and small boat arrivals for every nationality in 2025, as the Home Office publishes them.
Nationalities
These counts can overlap. Never add them together.
A visa gives permission to come. It is not an arrival.
Tap a row to see it in the pile. The arrow opens the country page.
Shows this nationality's answer in the pile at the top of the page.Sorts the table by this column. Press again to change the order.Population map
Table
Map unavailable.
Census history
Over time
Asylum and small boats
Asylum claims each year
Asylum claims include people who came by small boat and people who came other ways, such as on a visa. They are a separate count from small boat arrivals and are never added to them.
Small boats
Calendar year 2025
41,472 people detected
Figures from January 2025 can still be revised.
Select a year to read its figure.Arrow keys change the selected year.
How counted
Claims after arrival
detected small boat arrivals claimed asylum within 14 days.
Without permission
Ask a question
Accuracy
These are estimates, not exact counts. The ONS uses tax, benefit, visa and border records, then checks them.
Definitions
No matching word
A separate page
Grooming gangs
Official sources on grooming gangs, the Rape Gang Inquiry's report and published responses, each quoted with a link to its source.
Content note
The page is about the sexual abuse of children. Some of the quotations on it describe abuse in detail.
Sources
Download data
Download figures with their source details. Check each dataset's reuse terms and credit the original source.
- Migration by yearCSV
- Historical migrationSurvey method · 1964 to 2019CSV
- Birthplace by censusEngland and Wales · From 1951CSV
- Asylum by yearMain applicants from 2001; people from 2002CSV
- Routes before asylumCSV
- Visas by typeGrants by year from 2005CSV
- Over time measuresCSV
- Nationality countsSeparate visa, asylum and detected-arrival countsCSV
- Nationalities by yearCSV
- Added-up nationality countsYears and units are stated for each measure.CSV
- Small boats by yearCSV
- ONS rangesCSV
- ONS revisionsNet migration by release from 2022CSV
- Other government recordsONS, Home Office and DWP · From 2021CSV
- Local authority populationsPopulation counts and displayed dotsCSV
- Small-area populationsCSV
- Local migrationMoves in years ending JuneCSV
- Source catalogueCSV
- All published dataJSON
Corrections
Method
Common questions
What is Headcount?
Headcount is a free guide to UK migration and population. Every figure links to its source.
Who makes it?
Headcount is an independent project. It is not run by any government body, political party, campaign or company, and it carries no advertising. It has no named author. Every figure links to its source, so you can check it yourself.
How is Headcount paid for?
It is free to use and carries no advertising. Readers who find it useful can choose to help pay for it. Paying unlocks nothing, and everyone sees the same site. Headcount is not a charity, so a payment is not a charitable donation and Gift Aid does not apply. You can donate in crypto, using the addresses shown here.
Where do figures come from?
Mainly the ONS and Home Office, with other named sources. Open a numbered reference to check its source. Independent research estimates are labelled separately.
Does it include illegal migration?
As far as the official figures allow. The Home Office counts people detected arriving by illegal routes. Undetected arrivals are outside that count. The ONS includes small-boat arrivals who claimed asylum and stayed a year or more. They are already within its total. There is no current official count of residents without permission. The Home Office says it is not possible to know the exact number, so the site shows independent estimates for that.
How do immigration and net migration differ?
Immigration counts people moving here for a year or more. Net migration is immigration minus emigration. Emigration counts people leaving for a year or more. Net migration is not the number of arrivals.
Are British citizens counted?
Yes, when they move to or from the UK for a year or more.
Why do estimates change?
The ONS revises estimates as more records arrive and methods change. The Accuracy page shows how much they have moved. The next update is due on 26 November 2026 (provisional date).
How are faces chosen?
Faces use official figures and stated illustration assumptions. No face represents a real person. Read the method
Does Headcount take sides?
No. It shows published figures, their sources and their limits.
Does the site track me?
It counts visits, clicks and searches with Google Analytics, to see which figures people look for. It is set up with no cookies, no advertising features and no Google signals, and Google Analytics does not store IP addresses. What you type into a search is never sent: a search is counted only by the answer it opened, if any.
Does the site count what I do?
It counts taps on Insightful, guesses and visits to the page, and keeps them as totals. A total shows only once it reaches a set level, such as 25 taps. It stores no names and sets no cookies. A guess is kept only as one more tally of too high, too low or within 10%, never the number you chose. To stop repeats counting more than once, the server also keeps scrambled codes made from your network address and what you tapped or guessed, using a key that changes every day. It deletes them within a day. Your browser remembers which answers you marked Insightful, on your device only.
Can I reuse figures?
Download the figures and credit their original sources. Reuse terms depend on the dataset.
Over time
Each measure on its own scale, on the same years.