asylumstats Follow YOUR money
West Midlands

Wolverhampton

Updated 31 Dec 2025 · Home Office
Sureena Brackenridge
Sureena Brackenridge Labour · Wolverhampton North East

3 MPs cover constituencies in or overlapping Wolverhampton.

1,094 people housed on asylum support in Wolverhampton

Rank 21 of 361 councils nationally. The rate of 38.9 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. 59 in contingency accommodation (hotels, not housing). At roughly £150/person/day, that costs the taxpayer an estimated £60M per year for this area alone.

What asylum costs Wolverhampton

£21.5Mestimated hotel costs/year
£2.8Msubsistence payments/year
£1.3MLA dispersal grant/year

Estimates based on 1,094 people on asylum support in Wolverhampton (1.02% of 107,003 nationally). Hotel costs pro-rated from £5.77M/day national spend (2024/25 average, NAO). Subsistence: £49.18/week per person. Nationally, the hotel bill alone costs £62 per taxpayer per year.

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
1,375 917 458 0 Mar 2014 Dec 2025 Peak Sept 2023 Rwanda scheme Albania deal Bibby Stockholm Rwanda scrapped

Trend

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

Local numbers

Accommodation split

Dispersal accommodation 1,025
Initial accommodation 0
Subsistence only 10
Contingency accommodation 59

Pathway breakdown

Supported asylum
1,094
Homes for Ukraine
153
Afghan programme
237
Resettlement cumulative
120

Other routes

Homes for Ukraine 153
Afghan programme 237
Resettlement cumulative 120

Population context

All pathways total 1,484
Share of local population 0.53%

Ethnic composition projection

Wolverhampton: WBI 54.7% (2021) → 17.6% (2051). White British minority by ~2025. 80% CI: 19.2–21.8%.

Ethnic composition: Wolverhampton

0 17 35 52 70 % of population Census 2021 Illustrative White British 9% White Other 14% Asian 13% Black 47% Mixed 3% Other 14% 20112021203120412051
White British White Other Asian Black Mixed Other 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%
2031 proj
43%
9%
23%
14%
2041 proj
30%
12%
22%
22%
9%
2051 proj
18%
14%
18%
34%
12%
2061 proj
9%
14%
13%
47%
14%
White British White Other Asian Black Mixed Other
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 from 34.8% to 40.5% by 2051. That is a 5.7pp spread.

Fertility
Low ~108k/yr
Principal ~315k/yr
High ~476k/yr
Constant Rates stay at current levels
Half convergence Move halfway to national avg
Full convergence Converge 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

0 14 28 42 55 % Census 2021 Christian 15% No religion 50% Muslim 13% Hindu 3% Sikh 19% 2021203120412051
Christian No religion Muslim Hindu Sikh

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

18 34 50 66 82 % Census 2021 UK-born 42% Foreign-born 58% 2021203120412051
UK-born Foreign-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 other 11.5% internal, 2.7% international
black 10.6% internal, 2.5% international
other 9.8% internal, 2.9% international
asian 8% internal, 2.3% international
mixed 9.8% internal, 0.5% international
white british 6.2% 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 profile School pressure, housing demand, service demand scoring, economic profile, language projections, and more on UK Demographics. View Wolverhampton on UK Demographics →