asylumstatsFollow the money
West Midlands

Wolverhampton

Updated 30 Jun 2026 · Home Office
Sureena Brackenridge
Sureena BrackenridgeLabour · Wolverhampton North East

3 MPs cover constituencies in or overlapping Wolverhampton.

1,018 people on asylum support in Wolverhampton

Rank 21 of 361 councils nationally. The rate of 36.17 per 10,000 puts Wolverhampton in the 94th 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 2025. 16 of them receive subsistence only and are not in Home Office accommodation. Accommodation and support for 1,018 people at £107 per person per day is about £39.8M a year.

What asylum costs Wolverhampton

£23.0Mestimated hotel costs/year
£2.6Msubsistence payments/year
£1.2MLA dispersal grant/year

Estimates based on 1,018 people on asylum support in Wolverhampton(1.09% 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.

Wolverhampton: 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.

1,318
1,3759174580Mar 2014Dec 2025Peak Sept 2023Rwanda schemeAlbania dealBibby StockholmRwanda scrapped
Exact values
PeriodValue
Mar 2014541
Jun 2014571
Sept 2014610
Dec 2014648
Mar 2015641
Jun 2015645
Sept 2015675
Dec 2015689
Mar 2016698
Jun 2016728
Sept 2016732
Dec 2016772
Mar 2017758
Jun 2017787
Sept 2017780
Dec 2017802
Mar 2018887
Jun 2018877
Sept 2018861
Dec 2018885
Mar 2019880
Jun 2019857
Sept 2019807
Dec 2019835
Mar 2020851
Jun 2020899
Sept 2020915
Dec 2020884
Mar 2021859
Jun 2021855
Sept 2021848
Dec 2021882
Mar 2022879
Jun 2022827
Sept 2022874
Dec 20221,208
Mar 20231,184
Jun 20231,289
Sept 20231,375
Dec 20231,230
Mar 20241,236
Jun 20241,257
Sept 20241,184
Dec 20241,338
Mar 20251,248
Jun 20251,323
Sept 20251,344
Dec 20251,318

Trend

-26Latest quarter change
+777Change across series
48Official data points

Local numbers

Accommodation split

Dispersal accommodation1,002
Initial accommodation0
Subsistence only16
Contingency accommodation0

Pathway breakdown

Supported asylum
1,018
Homes for Ukraine
154
Afghan programme
234
Resettlement cumulative
120

Other routes

Homes for Ukraine154
Afghan programme234
Resettlement cumulative120

Population context

All pathways total1,406
Share of local population0.5%

Ethnic composition projection

Wolverhampton: White British 54.7% (2021) to 23.8% (2051). White British minority by ~2025. 80% CI: 22.3, 26.3%.

Ethnic composition: Wolverhampton

017355270% of populationCensus 2021IllustrativeWhite British 16% in 2061White Other 12% in 2061Asian 25% in 2061Black 22% in 2061Mixed 10% in 2061Other 16% 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: Wolverhampton

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

2011
65%
18%
11%
2021
55%
21%
9%
2031proj
44%
24%
12%
2041proj
33%
10%
26%
15%
8%
2051proj
24%
11%
26%
18%
9%
12%
2061proj
16%
12%
25%
22%
10%
16%
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 Wolverhampton ranges from34.8% to 40.5%by 2051. That is a 5.7pp 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 37.1% by 2051

Religion projection

Muslim 5.8% (2021) → 12.8% (2051). Christian 46.4% → 14.6%.

Religion: Wolverhampton

014284255%Census 2021Christian 15% in 2051No religion 50% in 2051Muslim 13% in 2051Hindu 3% in 2051Sikh 19% in 20512021203120412051
ChristianNo religionMuslimHinduSikh

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

Nativity

22.9% foreign-born (2021). Diversity: highly diverse (entropy 0.74). 85% main language English.

UK-born vs foreign-born: Wolverhampton

1834506682%Census 2021UK-born 42% in 2051Foreign-born 58% 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: 7.7% moved within UK, 1.1% arrived from abroad
white other11.5% internal, 2.7% international
black10.6% internal, 2.5% international
other9.8% internal, 2.9% international
asian8% internal, 2.3% international
mixed9.8% internal, 0.5% international
white british6.2% internal, 0.1% international

Why Wolverhampton is changing

-9.8pp
National trend
-6.4pp
Age structure
+1.2pp
Local migration
-4.7pp

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 Wolverhampton on UK Demographics →