# Headcount

> Headcount is an independent, neutral site that shows official UK migration and population figures, each with its source.

Every figure on the site comes from the data listed here, and every chart and answer names its source. Official figures are kept apart from independent estimates.

Cite as: Headcount (uk.headcount.world), with the original source named under each figure.

## Pages

- [Headcount](https://uk.headcount.world/): migration to and from the UK each year and added up, nationalities, asylum, small boats, the whole UK as dots, figures over time and how sure they are
- [Nationalities](https://uk.headcount.world/where-from-and-why): visas, asylum claims and small boat arrivals for every nationality, and the reasons people give
- [Net migration](https://uk.headcount.world/over-time): arrivals, departures and net migration each year since 1964, with other measures to add
- [Asylum and small boats](https://uk.headcount.world/asylum-and-small-boats): asylum claims and small boat arrivals each year, two different counts
- [Population](https://uk.headcount.world/everyone-in-the-uk): everyone who lives in the UK as dots, and people born abroad at each census
- [Accuracy](https://uk.headcount.world/how-sure): likely ranges, how first estimates change and how other records compare
- [Glossary](https://uk.headcount.world/words): what the key terms mean
- [Sources](https://uk.headcount.world/sources-and-method): every source, the method, the data files, the corrections log and common questions
- [Places](https://uk.headcount.world/places): every UK council on the same measures, with a sortable table, patterns between any two measures, the biggest changes and a page for each council
- [Your area](https://uk.headcount.world/your-area): type a postcode or a council name to open that council's page, with a preview of what each council page shows
- [The year you were born](https://uk.headcount.world/your-year): how many people moved to the UK and left in any year from 1964 to 2025, one page per year
- [Make your guess](https://uk.headcount.world/learn/asylum-challenge): A source-backed migration question to share
- [Migration news](https://uk.headcount.world/news): Migration headlines and evidence
- [Learn about migration](https://uk.headcount.world/learn): Explainers, podcasts and data
- [How we check](https://uk.headcount.world/news-method): Our evidence method
- [What does net migration measure?](https://uk.headcount.world/learn/net-migration): Arrivals, departures and the difference between them.
- [Is a visa the same as an arrival?](https://uk.headcount.world/learn/visas-and-arrivals): Permission to travel and people moving are different counts.
- [Asylum claims and small boats](https://uk.headcount.world/learn/asylum-and-boats): Two overlapping groups, not two parts of a total.
- [Check a migration claim in five steps](https://uk.headcount.world/learn/reading-a-claim): Keep the number attached to what it actually counts.
- [What can local data tell you?](https://uk.headcount.world/learn/local-migration): A population snapshot is not a count of recent arrivals.
- [Why do migration figures change?](https://uk.headcount.world/learn/uncertainty-and-revisions): A revised estimate can be better information about the same period.
- [Grooming gangs](https://uk.headcount.world/grooming-gangs): official sources and inquiry material, each quoted with a link
- [Projections](https://uk.headcount.world/where-is-it-heading): projections and party statements, with their sources

## Sources

- [Office for National Statistics](https://www.ons.gov.uk/): 38 sources, for example Long-term international migration, provisional: year ending December 2025
- [Home Office](https://www.gov.uk/): 13 sources, for example Entry clearance visa applications and outcomes, detailed datasets
- [Department for Work and Pensions](https://www.gov.uk/): 2 sources, for example National Insurance numbers allocated to adult overseas nationals to December 2025
- [Greater London Authority](https://www.london.gov.uk/): 1 source, for example London's children and young people who are not British citizens: A profile
- [Pew Research Center](https://www.pewresearch.org/): 1 source, for example Europe's Unauthorized Immigrant Population Peaks in 2016, Then Levels Off - Appendix E, updated estimates
- [National Records of Scotland](https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/): 8 sources, for example Small area population estimates: mid-2024 (2022 data zones)
- [Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency](https://www.nisra.gov.uk/): 8 sources, for example 2024 Mid-Year Population Estimates for Small Geographical Areas within Northern Ireland: Super Data Zones
- [Scottish Government](https://data.gov.scot/): 3 sources, for example 2022 Data Zone Lookup
- [Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government](https://www.gov.uk/): 4 sources, for example Social housing lettings in England, tenants: April 2024 to March 2025
- [Ministry of Justice](https://www.gov.uk/): 1 source, for example HMPPS Annual Digest, April 2025 to March 2026

## Downloads

- [headcount-migration-by-year.csv](https://uk.headcount.world/data/headcount-migration-by-year.csv): arrivals, departures and net migration each year, current ONS method
- [headcount-migration-1964-2019-older-method.csv](https://uk.headcount.world/data/headcount-migration-1964-2019-older-method.csv): the same figures from 1964, under the ONS's older methods
- [headcount-born-abroad-by-census.csv](https://uk.headcount.world/data/headcount-born-abroad-by-census.csv): people born outside the UK at each census
- [headcount-asylum-claims-by-year.csv](https://uk.headcount.world/data/headcount-asylum-claims-by-year.csv): asylum claims each year
- [headcount-asylum-claims-by-route.csv](https://uk.headcount.world/data/headcount-asylum-claims-by-route.csv): asylum claims by how people arrived
- [headcount-visas-by-type-by-year.csv](https://uk.headcount.world/data/headcount-visas-by-type-by-year.csv): visas granted by type each year
- [headcount-over-time-measures.csv](https://uk.headcount.world/data/headcount-over-time-measures.csv): every series in the Over time charts
- [headcount-by-nationality.csv](https://uk.headcount.world/data/headcount-by-nationality.csv): visas, asylum claims and small boat arrivals by nationality
- [headcount-nationalities-all-years.csv](https://uk.headcount.world/data/headcount-nationalities-all-years.csv): the nationalities table for every year
- [headcount-nationalities-added-up.csv](https://uk.headcount.world/data/headcount-nationalities-added-up.csv): the nationalities table with the years added up
- [headcount-small-boats-by-year.csv](https://uk.headcount.world/data/headcount-small-boats-by-year.csv): small boat arrivals each year
- [headcount-uncertainty-ranges.csv](https://uk.headcount.world/data/headcount-uncertainty-ranges.csv): the ONS's uncertainty ranges
- [headcount-first-estimates-change.csv](https://uk.headcount.world/data/headcount-first-estimates-change.csv): how first estimates changed in later releases
- [headcount-other-records.csv](https://uk.headcount.world/data/headcount-other-records.csv): other official records the ONS compares its estimates with
- [headcount-map-local-authorities.csv](https://uk.headcount.world/data/headcount-map-local-authorities.csv): population by local authority, for the map
- [headcount-map-small-areas.csv](https://uk.headcount.world/data/headcount-map-small-areas.csv): population by small area, for the map
- [headcount-map-migration-by-local-authority.csv](https://uk.headcount.world/data/headcount-map-migration-by-local-authority.csv): migration by local authority
- [headcount-sources.csv](https://uk.headcount.world/data/headcount-sources.csv): every source, with its publisher, date and link
- [headcount-data.json](https://uk.headcount.world/data/headcount-data.json): all the figures the page uses, in one file