UK / Returns

Returns from the UK

Enforced, voluntary, and port returns since 2004; foreign national offender returns since 2010; the top nationalities for enforced returns in 2025; and foreign nationals in prison.

Total returns, 2025

56,197

Enforced, voluntary, and port returns combined. 2025 figures are provisional.

FNO returns, 2025

5,634

Foreign national offenders returned, of which 2,769 EU and 2,865 non-EU.

Top nationality, 2025

Albania

2,440 enforced returns in 2025, compared with 2,626 in 2024.

Section 1

Returns by type, 2004 to 2025

The Home Office reports three return categories. Enforced returns are removals carried out by the Home Office. Voluntary returns include assisted, controlled, and other verified departures. Port returns are people refused entry at a UK port who subsequently departed.

UK returns by type, 2004–2025

Stacked: enforced + voluntary + port returns

Enforced
Voluntary
Port

UK Home Office returns by type, 2004 to 2025. 2024 and 2025 are provisional.

Section 2

Foreign national offender returns, 2010 to 2025

Returns of foreign national offenders from the UK, split by EU and non-EU nationality. EU returns peaked in 2017 before falling in the early 2020s; non-EU returns have grown since 2022.

FNO returns from the UK, 2010–2025

Stacked: EU + non-EU nationals

EU nationals
Non-EU nationals

Returns of foreign national offenders from the UK, split by EU and non-EU nationality, 2010 to 2025. 2024 and 2025 are provisional.

Section 3

Top 10 nationalities for enforced returns, 2025

The ten nationalities with the most enforced returns in the year ending September 2025, with comparison to 2024. Bars are sorted by 2025 value.

Top 10 nationalities, enforced returns 2025

Compared with 2024, sorted by 2025 value

2024
2025

Top 10 nationalities by enforced returns from the UK, year ending September 2025, with comparison to 2024. 2024 and 2025 are provisional.

Section 4

Foreign nationals in prison, England and Wales

At 30 June 2026, 10,134 of the 85,858 people in prison in England and Wales were recorded as foreign nationals (11.8% of those whose nationality was recorded). The figures include people on remand and a small number held under immigration powers. Nationality is self-reported by prisoners and is not verified.

For context, the ONS estimates that 11.9% of UK residents, and 14.6% of those aged 16 to 64, were non-UK nationals in 2024 (9.9% of residents of England and Wales held a non-UK passport at the 2021 Census). These figures are not directly comparable: the prison population is about 96% male and mostly aged 18 to 49, and no official source publishes the nationality mix of residents with the same age and sex profile.

Foreign nationals in prison, 30 June each year

2002: 7,716 → 2026: 10,134

The prison IT system changed in 2009, so earlier years are not directly comparable. From 2004 to 2021 the totals also include people held in immigration removal centres run by the prison service (up to about 1,200 a year).

Foreign nationals as a share of prisoners with a recorded nationality

2002: 11.0% → 2026: 11.8%

Most common foreign nationalities in prison, 30 June 2026

Prison population by nationality — latest: 30 June 2026 · Ministry of Justice · next update 29 October 2026
Population by nationality — latest: 2024 · ONS · No regular release

Methodology notes

Prison figures are a snapshot at 30 June each year, from Ministry of Justice Offender Management Statistics, and cover remand, sentenced and non-criminal prisoners.
In 2020 the Home Office revised returns statistics from 2007 onwards due to improved data-matching and re-categorisation. Pre-2007 figures may not be directly comparable to later years.
Voluntary return figures for the most recent two years are subject to upward revision as administrative records catch up.
Returns counts are events, not unique individuals — one person returned twice is counted twice.
“[p]” denotes provisional in the original release; applies to 2024 and 2025 throughout.

Sources