asylumstatsFollow the money
East Midlands

Leicester

Updated 30 Jun 2026 · Home Office
Shivani Raja
Shivani RajaConservative · Leicester East

6 MPs cover constituencies in or overlapping Leicester.

1,333 people on asylum support in Leicester

Rank 10 of 361 councils nationally. The rate of 34.79 per 10,000 puts Leicester in the 94th percentile. That means this area carries more asylum seekers per head than 90% of the country. 34 of them receive subsistence only and are not in Home Office accommodation. 145 in contingency accommodation (hotels, not housing). Accommodation and support for 1,333 people at £107 per person per day is about £52.1M a year.

What asylum costs Leicester

£30.1Mestimated hotel costs/year
£3.4Msubsistence payments/year
£1.6MLA dispersal grant/year

Estimates based on 1,333 people on asylum support in Leicester(1.43% 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.

Leicester: 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.

1,512
1,7041,1365680Mar 2014Dec 2025Peak Sept 2023Rwanda schemeAlbania dealBibby StockholmRwanda scrapped
Exact values
PeriodValue
Mar 2014657
Jun 2014776
Sept 2014832
Dec 2014865
Mar 2015836
Jun 2015851
Sept 2015877
Dec 2015918
Mar 2016928
Jun 2016933
Sept 2016934
Dec 2016926
Mar 2017927
Jun 2017899
Sept 2017903
Dec 2017911
Mar 20181,087
Jun 20181,041
Sept 20181,016
Dec 2018993
Mar 2019975
Jun 2019975
Sept 2019935
Dec 2019915
Mar 2020897
Jun 2020949
Sept 2020957
Dec 2020938
Mar 2021914
Jun 2021916
Sept 2021895
Dec 2021906
Mar 2022879
Jun 2022935
Sept 2022947
Dec 20221,380
Mar 20231,397
Jun 20231,596
Sept 20231,704
Dec 20231,596
Mar 20241,660
Jun 20241,527
Sept 20241,513
Dec 20241,527
Mar 20251,538
Jun 20251,559
Sept 20251,579
Dec 20251,512

Trend

-67Latest quarter change
+855Change across series
48Official data points

Local numbers

Accommodation split

Dispersal accommodation1,154
Initial accommodation0
Subsistence only34
Contingency accommodation145

Pathway breakdown

Supported asylum
1,333
Homes for Ukraine
283
Afghan programme
104
Resettlement cumulative
205

Other routes

Homes for Ukraine283
Afghan programme104
Resettlement cumulative205

Population context

All pathways total1,720
Share of local population0.45%

Ethnic composition projection

Leicester: White British 33.2% (2021) to 9.3% (2051). 80% CI: 8.2, 10.9%.

Ethnic composition: Leicester

015304560% of populationCensus 2021IllustrativeWhite British 6% in 2061White Other 8% in 2061Asian 55% in 2061Black 10% in 2061Mixed 6% in 2061Other 15% 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: Leicester

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

2011
45%
37%
8%
2021
33%
43%
2031proj
23%
9%
49%
9%
2041proj
15%
9%
53%
10%
9%
2051proj
9%
9%
55%
10%
12%
2061proj
8%
55%
10%
15%
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 Leicester ranges from22.1% to 24.5%by 2051. That is a 2.4pp 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 23.1% by 2051

Religion projection

Muslim 24.8% (2021) → 40.4% (2051). Christian 26.2% → 9.5%.

Religion: Leicester

011233445%Census 2021Christian 10% in 2051No religion 20% in 2051Muslim 40% in 2051Hindu 25% in 2051Sikh 4% in 20512021203120412051
ChristianNo religionMuslimHinduSikh

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

Nativity

41.1% foreign-born (2021). Diversity: highly diverse (entropy 0.77). 70% main language English.

UK-born vs foreign-born: Leicester

1934506681%Census 2021UK-born 24% in 2051Foreign-born 76% 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.

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

Census 2021 mobility: 9.7% moved within UK, 1.9% arrived from abroad
white other14.1% internal, 4.8% international
black12.6% internal, 2.6% international
other10.5% internal, 4.3% international
mixed11.5% internal, 1.4% international
asian8.2% internal, 2.4% international
white british9.6% internal, 0.2% international

Why Leicester is changing

-11.9pp
National trend
-6.4pp
Age structure
+2.8pp
Local migration
-8.3pp

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

Dominant driver: local migration. 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 Leicester on UK Demographics →