This briefing examines asylum and refugee resettlement in the UK. It presents data on the number and characteristics of asylum seekers and resettled refugees, and the outcomes of asylum applications.

Key findings include:

• People who originally came to the UK to seek asylum made up an estimated 0.6% of the UK population in 2018.
• Taking into account appeals, 55% of asylum applications from 2012 to 2016 had resulted in a grant of protection by May 2019 – up from 38% at initial decision.
• The top five most common countries of nationality for asylum seekers in 2018 were Iran, Iraq, Eritrea, Pakistan and Albania.
• Two-thirds of resettled refugees in the UK are Syrian nationals.

Published in October 2019 by the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford.