Insight
How many small boat crossings have there been in 2026?
People detected crossing the Channel by small boat, in Home Office daily data.
HeadcountPublished Figures to 30 October 2026, provisional
Short answer
21,869 people were detected crossing the Channel in small boats between 1 January and 30 October 2026, according to provisional Home Office daily figures. By the same date in 2025 the total was 36,954, so this year is 15,085 lower. It is the fewest by this date since 2021. The busiest day was 23 September, with 781 arrivals.
[1] Home Office, Small boat activity in the English Channel, time series, SB_01 daily and SB_02 weekly, published 31 October 2026
How does this year compare with earlier years?
Each year below runs from 1 January to 30 October, so the years are compared over the same dates.
People arriving by small boat, 1 January to 30 October, each year, 2018 to 2026
People detected · provisional daily data
| Period | People | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 51 | provisional |
| 2019 | 1,414 | provisional |
| 2020 | 7,492 | provisional |
| 2021 | 19,785 | provisional |
| 2022 | 39,883 | provisional |
| 2023 | 26,605 | provisional |
| 2024 | 30,431 | provisional |
| 2025 | 36,954 | provisional |
| 2026 | 21,869 | provisional |
Each bar counts the people detected arriving by small boat between 1 January and 30 October in that year, all from one Home Office file.
[1] Home Office, Small boat activity in the English Channel, time series, SB_01 daily and SB_02 weekly, published 31 October 2026
How many crossed each month this year?
Of the full months so far in 2026, June had the most arrivals, 2,742, and January the fewest, 933.
People arriving by small boat each month, 2026
People detected · provisional daily data
| Period | People | Note |
|---|---|---|
| January | 933 | |
| February | 1,276 | |
| March | 2,232 | |
| April | 1,975 | |
| May | 2,726 | |
| June | 2,742 | |
| July | 2,316 | |
| August | 2,313 | |
| September | 2,683 | |
| October (to 30 October) | 2,673 | to date |
Each bar counts the people detected arriving by small boat in that month.
October is to 30 October only.
[1] Home Office, Small boat activity in the English Channel, time series, SB_01 daily and SB_02 weekly, published 31 October 2026
What were the full-year totals?
These are the Home Office's official figures for each calendar year. They can differ a little from the daily file. For 2022 the official figure is 45,774 and the daily file gives 45,755.
| Year | Official figure | Daily file |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 299 | 299 |
| 2019 | 1,843 | 1,843 |
| 2020 | 8,466 | 8,462 |
| 2021 | 28,526 | 28,526 |
| 2022 | 45,774 | 45,755 |
| 2023 | 29,437 | 29,437 |
| 2024 | 36,816 | 36,816 |
| 2025 | 41,472 | 41,472 |
[1] Home Office, Small boat activity in the English Channel, time series, SB_01 daily and SB_02 weekly, published 31 October 2026[3] Home Office, Illegal entry routes to the UK, summary tables, IER_01, IER_02b and IER_02d, published 27 August 2026
Who is crossing?
In the year to June 2026, the nationalities recorded most often among people arriving by small boat were Eritrea (5,875), Sudan (4,191) and Afghanistan (4,042), out of 33,374 arrivals in all.
| Nationality | People |
|---|---|
| Eritrea | 5,875 |
| Sudan | 4,191 |
| Afghanistan | 4,042 |
| Somalia | 3,901 |
| Iran | 3,657 |
| All nationalities | 33,374 |
[3] Home Office, Illegal entry routes to the UK, summary tables, IER_01, IER_02b and IER_02d, published 27 August 2026
Do small boat arrivals and asylum claims overlap?
The Home Office says “almost all small boat arrivals claim asylum”. Its table matching small boat arrivals with asylum claims counts 40,595 people arriving by small boat in 2025, and 39,952 of them claimed asylum within 14 days of arriving. The two counts overlap, so they are never added together. Do asylum and small-boat totals overlap?
[3] Home Office, Illegal entry routes to the UK, summary tables, IER_01, IER_02b and IER_02d, published 27 August 2026[4] Home Office, Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2026 - How many people claim asylum in the UK?, bulletin, published 27 August 2026
How this page is built
The year so far fills from the newest Home Office time series each week, and its daily figures must add up to the file's weekly totals or the page is not built. The official tables fill the same way, and when a new release changes them the page stops being built until every changed figure has been checked against its source.
Sources and method · How we check · How sure the figures are
Earlier figures
- 1 January to 29 October 2026, 21,198 people, against 36,954 by the same date a year before.Source: Home Office, small boats time series ↗
- 1 January to 25 September 2026, 18,609 people, against 32,188 by the same date a year before.Source: Home Office, small boats time series ↗
Words used here
Sources in full
- Small boat activity in the English Channel, time series ↗Home Office · SB_01 daily and SB_02 weekly · published 31 October 2026
- Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2026 - How many people come to the UK via illegal entry routes? ↗Home Office · bulletin · published 27 August 2026
- Illegal entry routes to the UK, summary tables ↗Home Office · IER_01, IER_02b and IER_02d · published 27 August 2026
- Immigration system statistics, year ending June 2026 - How many people claim asylum in the UK? ↗Home Office · bulletin · published 27 August 2026
- Release announcement, Small boat activity in the English Channel, weekly time series ↗Home Office · next release