asylumstatsFollow the money
West Midlands

Birmingham

Updated 30 Jun 2026 · Home Office
Preet Kaur Gill
Preet Kaur GillLabour (Co-op) · Birmingham Edgbaston

9 MPs cover constituencies in or overlapping Birmingham.

2,136 people on asylum support in Birmingham

Rank 2 of 361 councils nationally. The rate of 18.15 per 10,000 puts Birmingham in the 78th percentile. That means this area carries more than most. 202 of them receive subsistence only and are not in Home Office accommodation. 589 in contingency accommodation (hotels, not housing). Accommodation and support for 2,136 people at £107 per person per day is about £83.4M a year.

What asylum costs Birmingham

£48.2Mestimated hotel costs/year
£5.5Msubsistence payments/year
£2.6MLA dispersal grant/year

Estimates based on 2,136 people on asylum support in Birmingham(2.29% of 93,293 nationally at 30 Jun 2026). Hotel costs pro-rated from £5.77M/day national spend in 2024/25 (House of Commons Library, CDP-2025-0184). Subsistence: £49.18/week per person.

Birmingham: asylum numbers falling

Quarter-end stock series to Dec 2025. A rise or fall is a net change in the number of people on support at period end, not the number of new claims or distinct people moving through the caseload. Support stock also overlaps with, but is not identical to, the awaiting-decision backlog.

2,637
3,4882,3251,1630Mar 2014Dec 2025Peak Sept 2023Rwanda schemeAlbania dealBibby StockholmRwanda scrapped
Exact values
PeriodValue
Mar 20141,241
Jun 20141,269
Sept 20141,370
Dec 20141,556
Mar 20151,451
Jun 20151,400
Sept 20151,433
Dec 20151,775
Mar 20161,888
Jun 20161,658
Sept 20161,579
Dec 20161,598
Mar 20171,575
Jun 20171,535
Sept 20171,548
Dec 20171,532
Mar 20181,800
Jun 20181,827
Sept 20181,896
Dec 20181,773
Mar 20191,910
Jun 20191,791
Sept 20191,629
Dec 20191,638
Mar 20201,772
Jun 20201,917
Sept 20201,923
Dec 20201,863
Mar 20211,770
Jun 20211,721
Sept 20211,723
Dec 20211,897
Mar 20221,770
Jun 20222,000
Sept 20222,033
Dec 20223,251
Mar 20233,455
Jun 20232,986
Sept 20233,488
Dec 20233,105
Mar 20242,806
Jun 20241,955
Sept 20242,476
Dec 20242,402
Mar 20252,504
Jun 20252,755
Sept 20252,832
Dec 20252,637

Trend

-195Latest quarter change
+1,396Change across series
48Official data points

Local numbers

Accommodation split

Dispersal accommodation1,345
Initial accommodation0
Subsistence only202
Contingency accommodation589

Pathway breakdown

Supported asylum
2,136
Homes for Ukraine
1,396
Afghan programme
643
Resettlement cumulative
659

Other routes

Homes for Ukraine1,396
Afghan programme643
Resettlement cumulative659

Population context

All pathways total4,175
Share of local population0.35%

Ethnic composition projection

Birmingham: White British 42.9% (2021) to 14.9% (2051). 80% CI: 13.5, 16.8%.

Ethnic composition: Birmingham

015294458% of populationCensus 2021IllustrativeWhite British 9% in 2061White Other 5% in 2061Asian 33% in 2061Black 28% in 2061Mixed 6% in 2061Other 20% in 206120112021203120412051
White BritishWhite OtherAsianBlackMixedOther 80% CI

Each line shows one ethnic group's share of the local population. The shaded band is the 80% confidence range. Values after 2051 are illustrative only.

Ethnic composition: Birmingham

Census 2011, Census 2021, then Hamilton-Perry projections to 2051. Percentages.

2011
53%
27%
12%
2021
43%
31%
11%
2031proj
33%
35%
14%
2041proj
23%
36%
18%
11%
2051proj
15%
36%
23%
15%
2061proj
9%
33%
28%
20%
White BritishWhite OtherAsianBlackMixedOther
Model: Hamilton-Perry single-year CCRs, 1,000 Monte Carlo simulations, SNPP-constrained

Census 2011 to 2021 cohort change ratios. Shaded band = 80% confidence interval from stochastic perturbation. Not a forecast.

Scenario explorer

Under different assumptions, White British share in Birmingham ranges from28.4% to 30.1%by 2051. That is a 1.7pp spread.

Fertility
Low~108k/yr
Principal~315k/yr
High~476k/yr
ConstantRates stay at current levels
Half convergenceMove halfway to national avg
Full convergenceConverge to national avg
Migration
Central scenario: WBI 29.1% by 2051

Religion projection

Muslim 31.8% (2021) → 53.5% (2051). Christian 36.2% → 9.6%.

Religion: Birmingham

015294459%Census 2021Christian 10% in 2051No religion 33% in 2051Muslim 54% in 2051Sikh 2% in 20512021203120412051
ChristianNo religionMuslimSikh

Religious affiliation projected from Census 2021 self-identification. Trends reflect demographic change in the existing population, not religious conversion.

Nativity

26.7% foreign-born (2021). Diversity: highly diverse (entropy 0.79). 84.4% main language English.

UK-born vs foreign-born: Birmingham

2236506478%Census 2021UK-born 37% in 2051Foreign-born 63% in 20512021203120412051
UK-bornForeign-born

Share of the local population born outside the UK. Movement reflects both new arrivals and the UK-born children of existing residents reaching adulthood.

established diversity: High foreign-born share means ethnic change is migration-driven. Future projections are sensitive to immigration policy.

Census 2021 mobility: 8.5% moved within UK, 1.2% arrived from abroad
white other12.9% internal, 3.4% international
other9.7% internal, 3.2% international
mixed10.7% internal, 0.9% international
black9.5% internal, 1.8% international
white british8.5% internal, 0.2% international
asian6.9% internal, 1.6% international

Why Birmingham is changing

-10.2pp
National trend
-6.4pp
Age structure
+2.1pp
Local migration
-6pp

White British change 2011-2021. Cyan = decline. Amber = growth.

Dominant driver: national trend. Shift-share methodology following Franklin (2014).

Full demographic profileSchool pressure, housing demand, service demand scoring, economic profile, language projections, and more on UK Demographics.View Birmingham on UK Demographics →