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Local data on migration: What is available?

Local data on migration in the UK is limited. While statistics on migration to and from the UK are published regularly at national level, there is much less information about where in the country migrants are living, or about the characteristics and circumstances of migrants in different local areas.

The table below summarises what local migration data is available across a range of topic areas.

How is migration measured?

There are two main ways of looking at the scale of international migration:

1. Migration flows: the number of people immigrating to and emigrating from the UK in a given period.
2. The migrant population (stock): the number of migrants living in the UK at a particular point in time.

Local data on migration flows

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) publishes local authority level data on international migration as part of its mid‑year population estimates. These estimate the contribution of international migration to population change in each local authority (council) area, alongside other components of population change, such as births, deaths and internal migration. No equivalent data is published for parliamentary constituencies.

These figures are based on national long‑term migration statistics, alongside other data sources. National migration estimates are themselves subject to uncertainty because a range of statistical assumptions are used to adjust for gaps in the data. Estimates for local authorities are generally more uncertain because they require additional assumptions about how migration is distributed across the country. As a result, they may not always accurately reflect migration patterns and should be treated as indicative rather than precise measures.

A further limitation is that local authority level data provides much less detail than the corresponding national figures. National estimates are available with breakdowns by nationality, and by reason for migration for some groups. However, at local authority level only age and sex breakdowns are available. This means that it is not possible to infer from this data where migrants have come from or why they may have migrated.

Home Office visa data

The Home Office publishes UK-wide statistics on out-of-country visa grants and in-country visa extensions. However, these do not show where visa holders live after arriving in the UK or provide any geographical breakdown below UK level.

More generally, there is also no published data on the UK population by current visa status, meaning it is not possible to tell how many people on different types of visas are living in specific areas.

Local data on migrant stocks

The census provides the most comprehensive picture of the migrant population living in the UK. Data is available for parliamentary constituencies, local authorities, and other small area geographies. 

The census collects information on:

• country of birth
• passports held (which can be used as an indicator of citizenship or nationality)
• year of arrival in the UK
• length of residence in the UK

These migration-related variables can be analysed alongside a range of other characteristics and information that is collected in the census, such as age, sex, housing, employment, and education. For example, the data can be used to compare employment rates among people born in different countries. One aspect of migration that the census does not ask about is immigration status.

A key limitation is that the census takes place only once every ten years. The most recent censuses took place in 2021 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and in 2022 in Scotland, so data may not fully reflect the situation at present, particularly in the context of recent unprecedented levels of migration.

The ONS used to publish estimates of the UK population by country of birth and nationality, based on data from the Annual Population Survey. However, this series was discontinued in 2022 due to data quality concerns. As a result, there are currently no official local-level population estimates by country of birth or nationality available between censuses.

Asylum seekers and refugees

Data on the location of asylum seekers is only available for those who are receiving government support. The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford estimates that this group accounts for approximately 70% of people with active asylum claims. This data is available at both regional and local authority level.

Details of the number of supported asylum seekers by region and local authority, alongside calculated rates per 10,000 population, are available to download from the landing page of the Library’s asylum statistics briefing.

There are no consoldiated statistics showing the number of refugees living in different parts of the UK. However, some data is published by the Home Office on refugees resettled through resettlement schemes, which includes a breakdown by the local authority in which a person was initially resettled on arrival.

‘Resettlement’ is the voluntary transfer of recognised refugees from the country where they were granted asylum to another country that agrees to give them permanent residence. These figures do not include people who claimed asylum in the UK and were subsequently granted refugee status, who make up a much larger group than resettled refugees.

The Home Office’s regional and local authority data on immigration groups also provides figures on arrivals through the Homes for Ukraine scheme and the location of people resettled through the Afghan Resettlement Programme. However, these figures do not relate specifically to refugees. People arriving under the Homes for Ukraine scheme do not have refugee status under UK immigration law. Similarly, people arriving through the Afghan Resettlement Programme are generally granted indefinite leave to remain or another immigration status, rather than refugee status.

Administrative data sources

Some datasets collected for administrative purposes can provide some useful information about migration, despite not being designed to measure migration directly.

For example, Department for Work and Pensions data on National Insurance (NI) number registrations from non-UK nationals can provide an indication of in-flow to the UK by people who require an NI number, primarily for employment purposes. This data is available by local authority of residence.

Unlike official migration estimates, which measure long-term migration (people changing country of residence for a period of at least a year), NI number registration data captures both short-term and long-term migrants. However, it is not a precise measure of arrivals as not all migrants require an NI number, and registration can take place some time after arrival in the UK. The data also does not provide any information about subsequent departures from the UK.

Further reading

Commons Library, Migration statistics

Commons Library, Asylum statistics

Migration Observatory, Local data on migrants in the UK  

Migration Observatory, Top Ten Problems in the Evidence Base for Public Debate and Policy-Making on Immigration in the UK in 2025