How many people cross the Channel in small boats?
- Published
More than 25,000 migrants have crossed the English Channel since the start of the year.
Under a new scheme, some people arriving in the UK on small boats will be detained and sent back to France.
For every migrant returned, the UK will accept an asylum seeker who has not tried to cross and who passes security and eligibility checks.
How many people cross the Channel in small boats?
As of 30 July, 25,436 migrants had crossed the Channel in small boats in 2025.
The figure is about 49% higher than at the same point in 2024.
In 2024 as a whole, nearly 37,000 people were detected making the crossing - 25% more than in 2023.
The highest yearly total was recorded in 2022, when 45,755 people arrived.
More than 170,000 people have arrived in small boats since figures were first recorded in 2018.
Small boat arrivals are a small percentage of the UK's overall immigration figure. In 2024, an estimated 948,000 people arrived expecting to stay at least a year. An estimated 517,000 people left the country.
How will the new 'one in, one out' deal work?
The scheme is described by the government as a pilot set to last for 11 months.
UK officials can make referrals for returns to France within three days of someone's arrival by small boat. It has been reported that 50 people a week could be selected if their claim for asylum is quickly deemed inadmissible.
French authorities can then identify the same number of asylum seekers currently in France who intend to come to the UK but have not tried to cross.
Those who pass security and eligibility checks can be relocated to the UK and given three months to claim asylum or apply for a visa. They would not be allowed to work, study or have access to benefits in this time.
The plan is designed to deter people from crossing, while also encouraging those whose claims are more likely to succeed to do so via this new approved route.
Critics - including the Conservatives - say the numbers expected to be returned to France would be a small proportion of those crossing and question how much of a deterrent that would be.
What other measures has the government introduced to cut numbers?
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer says his government's primary tactic is to "smash" the gangs trafficking people for huge profits.
In July, it announced that 25 people including gang leaders and small boat suppliers had had their assets frozen and were banned from travelling to the UK.
The government has also announced £100m to fund 300 National Crime Agency Officers to stop people-smugglers arranging the crossings.
Ministers are also spending £150m on a new Border Security Command.
The UK is paying France almost £500m over three years, as agreed by the previous Conservative government, to fund extra officers on the French coast charged with stopping crossing.
To deter crossings, rules were toughened to make it almost impossible for anyone who arrives in the UK on a small boat to become a British citizen.
The charity Asylum Matters has argued for a complete rethink, saying: "The only way to stop people from making dangerous journeys is to give them real safe routes to seek sanctuary."
How many people die crossing the Channel?
The International Organization for Migration (IOM), a UN agency, tracks the number of people who die attempting to cross the Channel, external.
Its figures include people who were travelling to a crossing point and died in other circumstances, such as car crashes or because of medical issues.
The IOM estimates that at least 82 migrants died in 2024, making it the deadliest year on record.
At the end of June it said that at least 18 people had died on this route in 2025. That takes the total number of migrants who have lost their lives since 2018 to 247.
The Refugee Council has said that the dangers of crossings have increased, with more people crammed into less seaworthy boats, external.
Who is crossing the Channel in small boats?
Afghans were the top nationality arriving by small boat in the year to March 2025, according to Home Office figures.
Syrians made up the second largest group, followed by people from Iran, Vietnam and Eritrea.
These five nationalities accounted for 61% of all arrivals.
In 2024, almost one third of the 108,000 people who claimed asylum in the UK arrived on a small boat.
The Home Office can remove people with no legal right to stay in the UK, or refuse to let them enter. But the 1951 Refugee Convention establishes the right to claim asylum in a foreign state if an applicant can prove they face a serious threat to life or freedom in their country of origin.
There are some exceptions for serious criminals who can be legitimately turned away.
Between 2018 and December 2024, 4,995 people who came to the UK in small boats were returned to their home country - about 3% of the total.
How do UK small boat arrivals compare with those to Europe?
There were more than 180,000 arrivals by sea in Europe during 2024, external, with Italy receiving more than a third.
Greece and Spain also received large numbers.
In the year ending September 2024, 1.1 million people claimed asylum in the EU and European Economic Area (EEA), down 3% compared with the previous year.
Germany received the most applicants - 294,415. France was second (162,390) followed by Italy (162,305) and Spain (161,470).