asylumstatsFollow the money
South West

Somerset

Updated 30 Jun 2026 · Home Office
Anna Sabine
Anna SabineLiberal Democrats · Frome and East Somerset

3 MPs cover constituencies in or overlapping Somerset.

198 people on asylum support in Somerset

Rank 135 of 361 councils nationally. The rate of 3.35 per 10,000 puts Somerset in the 36th percentile. That means a moderate load compared to the national picture. 14 of them receive subsistence only and are not in Home Office accommodation. 3 in contingency accommodation (hotels, not housing). Accommodation and support for 198 people at £107 per person per day is about £7.7M a year.

What asylum costs Somerset

£4.5Mestimated hotel costs/year
£506Ksubsistence payments/year
£238KLA dispersal grant/year

Estimates based on 198 people on asylum support in Somerset(0.21% 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.

Somerset: 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.

365
3962641320Jun 2023Dec 2025Peak Sept 2025Bibby StockholmRwanda scrapped
Exact values
PeriodValue
Jun 2023299
Sept 2023298
Dec 2023260
Mar 2024228
Jun 2024232
Sept 2024240
Dec 2024297
Mar 2025306
Jun 2025326
Sept 2025396
Dec 2025365

Trend

-31Latest quarter change
+66Change across series
11Official data points

Local numbers

Accommodation split

Dispersal accommodation181
Initial accommodation0
Subsistence only14
Contingency accommodation3

Pathway breakdown

Supported asylum
198
Homes for Ukraine
2,016
Afghan programme
137
Resettlement cumulative
6

Other routes

Homes for Ukraine2,016
Afghan programme137
Resettlement cumulative6

Population context

All pathways total2,351
Share of local population0.4%

Ethnic composition projection

Somerset: White British 91.3% (2021) to 73.8% (2051).

Ethnic composition: Somerset

024487296% of populationCensus 2021White British 74% in 2051White Other 10% in 2051Asian 7% in 2051Mixed 4% in 20512021203120412051
White BritishWhite OtherAsianMixed

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: Somerset

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

2021
91%
2021
91%
2026proj
89%
2031proj
86%
2036proj
83%
2041proj
80%
9%
2046proj
77%
10%
2051proj
74%
10%
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 Somerset ranges from75.5% to 83.2%by 2051. That is a 7.7pp 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 78.7% by 2051
Full demographic profileSchool pressure, housing demand, service demand scoring, economic profile, language projections, and more on UK Demographics.View Somerset on UK Demographics →