A total of 41,472 migrants arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel in 2025 – up from 36,816 in the previous year and 41% higher than 2023’s total of 29,437.
It meant last year was the second highest annual total for small boat crossings on record, 9% below the all-time high of 45,774 in 2022. Some 65,000 migrants have reached Britain across the Channel since Labour came to power in summer 2024.
The average number of people per boat rose again in 2025, continuing a trend that began in 2018. There was an average of 62 arrivals per boat last year, up from 53 in 2024 and 49 in 2023.
For much of last year, the number of arrivals was running at the highest level since data was first published in 2018. However, it fell short of setting a new record because of bad weather in the last two months of the year, including a 28-day period when no migrants arrived.
The surge in crossings comes despite Sir Keir’s pledge in the run up to the general election to “smash the gangs”, with new legislation giving law enforcement agencies counter-terrorism style powers to crackdown on people smugglers.
Labour has also sought new agreements to prevent migrants from crossing the Channel in the first place, including a pledge from France to intervene at sea for the first time to stop the boats before they leave French waters.
The strategy, agreed with France at the same time as the ‘one in, one out’ deal to return Channel migrants to France, has yet to be implemented because of police union concerns at the risk to life from stopping small boats at sea.
The ‘one in, one out’ agreement has also so far remained a trial, with 193 migrants sent back to France and 195 legitimate asylum seekers entering the UK since the scheme was launched in the summer...<<<Read More>>>...
