Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many immigrants took residence in the UK in the latest year for which figures are available; and how many of those came to the UK by small boat crossing of the English Channel.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

Please see the letter attached from the Permanent Secretary for the Office of National Statistics.

Darren Tierney | Permanent Secretary

The Rt Hon. the Lord Wigley

House of Lords

London

SW1A 0PW

15 April 2026

Dear Lord Wigley,

As Permanent Secretary of the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking how many immigrants took residence in the UK in the latest year for which figures are available; and how many of those came to the UK by small boat crossing of the English Channel (HL15948).

Based on our latest estimates[1] which look at long-term international migration (long-term is where people change their usual place of residence for a period of 12 months or more). In the year ending June 2025, we estimated that:

• 898,000 people came to the UK for 12 months or more

• 693,000 people left the UK for 12 months or more

• Therefore, net migration was estimated at 204,000[2]

While these figures include those arriving for asylum, the ONS does not produce estimates on the number of arrivals by small boat. However, the Home Office and Border Force provide data on small boat arrivals for the last 7 days[3] and a timeseries updated weekly back to 2018. In year ending June 2025, the Home Office estimates that the number of people recorded as arriving in the UK on small boats was 43,309[4].

Those arriving in small boats who claim asylum would appear in our asylum estimates. In year ending June 2025, the ONS immigration estimate includes a total of 96,000 people that came to the UK for asylum.

Yours sincerely,

Darren Tierney

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/internationalmigration/bulletins/longterminternationalmigrationprovisional/yearendingjune2025

[2] Net migration is calculated by subtracting emigration estimates from immigration estimates. We do this with unrounded estimates so the rounded numbers may not always match this calculation exactly.

[3] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/migrants-detected-crossing-the-english-channel-in-small-boats/migrants-detected-crossing-the-english-channel-in-small-boats-last-7-days

[4] https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/immigration-system-statistics-year-ending-june-2025/how-many-people-come-to-the-uk-irregularly#small-boat-arrivals