People on Universal Credit
8,400,000 people
Great Britain
Provisional monthly caseload. Northern Ireland publishes a separate series. · Department for Work and PensionsUniversal Credit, migrants and asylum
Universal Credit, immigration status and asylum support are often mixed together. These official figures keep them separate and show the population and period behind every number.
Important: ethnicity, nationality, country of birth and immigration status are not interchangeable. People currently seeking asylum normally receive Home Office asylum support rather than Universal Credit. A refugee is someone who has already been granted protection.
Universal Credit and recorded immigration status
UC claimants recorded in employment
32 %
Great Britain
Employment means employee earnings were received in the assessment period containing the count date. · Department for Work and PensionsCTA, UK, Ireland or right-of-abode group
84.5 %
Great Britain UC caseload
Immigration status is based on DWP administrative records; 99.9% of this group were UK citizens. · Department for Work and PensionsEU Settlement Scheme group
9 %
Great Britain UC caseload
Statistics in development. EUSS status alone does not always establish benefit entitlement. · Department for Work and PensionsRefugee group
1.6 %
Great Britain UC caseload
Refugees have been granted protection; this is not a count of people currently seeking asylum. · Department for Work and PensionsLimited leave, including family reunion
0.9 %
Great Britain UC caseload
This category includes differing conditions; some people may have had a no-recourse condition lifted. · Department for Work and PensionsWhat this does show
The share of the Great Britain UC caseload in each DWP-recorded immigration-status category, alongside employment and total caseload context.
What it does not show
These claimant percentages are not benefit-expenditure shares. Household awards may support more than one person, and DWP does not publish a complete cost-by-nationality total here.
Illegal entry routes and asylum support
Detected arrivals via illegal entry routes
44,000 people
United Kingdom
Detected routes only; this is not an estimate of every person without immigration permission. · Home OfficePeople receiving asylum support
97,519 people
United Kingdom
Includes accommodation, subsistence, or both; excludes unaccompanied asylum-seeking children supported by local authorities. · Home OfficeSupported asylum seekers in hotels
20,885 people
United Kingdom
A subset of people receiving asylum support, not a count of all asylum seekers. · Home OfficePeople awaiting an initial asylum decision
48,758 people
United Kingdom
People rather than cases; appeals and removals are separate stages. · Home OfficeHow we will handle cost claims
Accommodation, subsistence, enforcement, local-authority spending and foregone tax are different measures. We will publish each with its own scope and never turn a claimant count into a cash estimate without a matching official cost basis.