asylumstatsFollow the money
North West

Wigan

Updated 30 Jun 2026 · Home Office
Lisa Nandy
Lisa NandyLabour · Wigan
1,193 people on asylum support in Wigan

Rank 12 of 361 councils nationally. The rate of 34.37 per 10,000 puts Wigan in the 93rd percentile. That means this area carries more asylum seekers per head than 90% of the country. 10 of them receive subsistence only and are not in Home Office accommodation. Accommodation and support for 1,193 people at £107 per person per day is about £46.6M a year.

What asylum costs Wigan

£26.9Mestimated hotel costs/year
£3.1Msubsistence payments/year
£1.4MLA dispersal grant/year

Estimates based on 1,193 people on asylum support in Wigan(1.28% 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.

Wigan: 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.

1,189
1,4429614810Mar 2014Dec 2025Peak Sept 2023Rwanda schemeAlbania dealBibby StockholmRwanda scrapped
Exact values
PeriodValue
Mar 2014418
Jun 2014448
Sept 2014478
Dec 2014542
Mar 2015590
Jun 2015592
Sept 2015679
Dec 2015739
Mar 2016787
Jun 2016847
Sept 2016868
Dec 2016885
Mar 2017907
Jun 2017889
Sept 2017908
Dec 2017937
Mar 20181,024
Jun 20181,011
Sept 20181,011
Dec 20181,029
Mar 20191,020
Jun 2019990
Sept 2019944
Dec 2019921
Mar 2020918
Jun 2020955
Sept 2020964
Dec 2020933
Mar 2021862
Jun 2021808
Sept 2021814
Dec 2021903
Mar 2022913
Jun 2022952
Sept 2022994
Dec 20221,152
Mar 20231,150
Jun 20231,331
Sept 20231,442
Dec 20231,296
Mar 20241,285
Jun 20241,236
Sept 20241,239
Dec 20241,218
Mar 20251,198
Jun 20251,207
Sept 20251,220
Dec 20251,189

Trend

-31Latest quarter change
+771Change across series
48Official data points

Local numbers

Accommodation split

Dispersal accommodation1,183
Initial accommodation0
Subsistence only10
Contingency accommodation0

Pathway breakdown

Supported asylum
1,193
Homes for Ukraine
277
Afghan programme
28
Resettlement cumulative
0

Other routes

Homes for Ukraine277
Afghan programme28
Resettlement cumulative0

Population context

All pathways total1,498
Share of local population0.43%

Ethnic composition projection

Wigan: White British 91.9% (2021) to 76.4% (2051). 80% CI: 75.8, 79.7%.

Ethnic composition: Wigan

0255075100% of populationCensus 2021IllustrativeWhite British 67% in 2061White Other 8% in 2061Asian 5% in 2061Black 6% in 2061Mixed 8% in 2061Other 6% 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: Wigan

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

2011
95%
2021
92%
2031proj
88%
2041proj
83%
2051proj
76%
2061proj
67%
8%
8%
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 Wigan ranges from71.7% to 82.9%by 2051. That is a 11.2pp 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 76.2% by 2051

Religion projection

Muslim 1.3% (2021) → 2.8% (2051). Christian 65.9% → 11.9%.

Religion: Wigan

728486989%Census 2021Christian 12% in 2051No religion 84% in 20512021203120412051
ChristianNo religion

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

Nativity

6.2% foreign-born (2021). Diversity: low diversity (entropy 0.23). 96.5% main language English.

UK-born vs foreign-born: Wigan

126507499%Census 2021UK-born 77% in 2051Foreign-born 24% 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.

low immigration: Limited ethnic diversity. Projections primarily driven by national trends.

Census 2021 mobility: 7.2% moved within UK, 0.4% arrived from abroad
black15.5% internal, 3.2% international
asian12% internal, 5.6% international
white other12.5% internal, 3.1% international
other11.8% internal, 3.7% international
mixed11.2% internal, 1.3% international
white british6.8% internal, 0.1% international

Why Wigan is changing

-3.6pp
National trend
-6.4pp
Age structure
-1.2pp
Local migration
+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 Wigan on UK Demographics →