asylumstatsFollow the money
South East

Portsmouth

Updated 30 Jun 2026 · Home Office
Amanda Martin
Amanda MartinLabour · Portsmouth North

2 MPs cover constituencies in or overlapping Portsmouth.

660 people on asylum support in Portsmouth

Rank 42 of 361 councils nationally. The rate of 31.21 per 10,000 puts Portsmouth in the 92nd percentile. That means this area carries more asylum seekers per head than 90% of the country. White British projected to be a minority by approximately 2056. 18 of them receive subsistence only and are not in Home Office accommodation. 97 in contingency accommodation (hotels, not housing). Accommodation and support for 660 people at £107 per person per day is about £25.8M a year.

What asylum costs Portsmouth

£14.9Mestimated hotel costs/year
£1.7Msubsistence payments/year
£792KLA dispersal grant/year

Estimates based on 660 people on asylum support in Portsmouth(0.71% 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.

Portsmouth: 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.

742
7705132570Mar 2014Dec 2025Peak Jun 2023Rwanda schemeAlbania dealBibby StockholmRwanda scrapped
Exact values
PeriodValue
Mar 2014119
Jun 2014131
Sept 2014132
Dec 2014125
Mar 2015139
Jun 2015128
Sept 2015129
Dec 2015136
Mar 2016141
Jun 2016142
Sept 2016146
Dec 2016151
Mar 2017147
Jun 2017137
Sept 2017145
Dec 2017158
Mar 2018208
Jun 2018191
Sept 2018210
Dec 2018221
Mar 2019243
Jun 2019252
Sept 2019253
Dec 2019260
Mar 2020265
Jun 2020292
Sept 2020304
Dec 2020281
Mar 2021291
Jun 2021303
Sept 2021302
Dec 2021302
Mar 2022327
Jun 2022382
Sept 2022430
Dec 2022561
Mar 2023542
Jun 2023770
Sept 2023739
Dec 2023648
Mar 2024708
Jun 2024678
Sept 2024733
Dec 2024770
Mar 2025766
Jun 2025700
Sept 2025761
Dec 2025742

Trend

-19Latest quarter change
+623Change across series
48Official data points

Local numbers

Accommodation split

Dispersal accommodation545
Initial accommodation0
Subsistence only18
Contingency accommodation97

Pathway breakdown

Supported asylum
660
Homes for Ukraine
234
Afghan programme
149
Resettlement cumulative
9

Other routes

Homes for Ukraine234
Afghan programme149
Resettlement cumulative9

Population context

All pathways total1,043
Share of local population0.49%

Ethnic composition projection

Portsmouth: White British 77.7% (2021) to 54.2% (2051). White British minority by ~2056. 80% CI: 52.1, 58.7%.

Ethnic composition: Portsmouth

022456789% of populationCensus 2021IllustrativeWhite British 45% in 2061White Other 16% in 2061Asian 11% in 2061Black 9% in 2061Mixed 8% in 2061Other 12% 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: Portsmouth

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

2011
84%
2021
78%
2031proj
71%
10%
2041proj
63%
12%
9%
2051proj
54%
15%
10%
2061proj
45%
16%
11%
9%
12%
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 Portsmouth ranges from52.5% to 63.2%by 2051. That is a 10.7pp 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 56.8% by 2051

Religion projection

Muslim 5.2% (2021) → 9.1% (2051). Christian 42.1% → 11.5%.

Religion: Portsmouth

021416282%Census 2021Christian 11% in 2051No religion 77% in 2051Muslim 9% in 20512021203120412051
ChristianNo religionMuslim

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

Nativity

16.9% foreign-born (2021). Diversity: moderately diverse (entropy 0.48). 90.8% main language English.

UK-born vs foreign-born: Portsmouth

1231506988%Census 2021UK-born 51% in 2051Foreign-born 49% 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.

emerging diversity: Limited ethnic diversity. Projections primarily driven by national trends.

Census 2021 mobility: 12.9% moved within UK, 1.3% arrived from abroad
black21.5% internal, 7.8% international
other17.3% internal, 5.7% international
white other16.9% internal, 4.6% international
asian15.8% internal, 5.3% international
mixed18.2% internal, 1.4% international
white british11.6% internal, 0.3% international

Why Portsmouth is changing

-6.3pp
National trend
-6.4pp
Age structure
-0.3pp
Local migration
+0.4pp

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 Portsmouth on UK Demographics →