British deportations have reached a six-year high—but this amounts to fewer than 9,000 people overall, and an increase in illegal immigration is substantially outpacing it. A total of 8,164 foreigners faced enforced returns last year, marking a 28 percent increase compared to the previous year. This figure represents the highest annual count since 2018, which saw 9,236 deportations.
Britain’s Home Office—roughly equivalent to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security—categorizes returns into three types: enforced returns managed directly by the agency, voluntary returns where individuals leave of their own volition, often with assistance, and port returns for those denied entry near the border. Last year, voluntary returns peaked at 25,186—the highest since 2016—while port returns saw a slight decline from the previous year to 23,009.
Four nationalities comprised nearly two-thirds of enforced returns in 2024, with Albanians leading at 32 percent, followed by Romanians, Brazilians, and Poles. Albanians make up a large percentage of those coming to Britain by boat from France.
The total number of illegals living in the United Kingdom was estimated to be as high as 1.2 million in 2017, with a study released last year suggesting that the country has the most illegal immigrants of any European country.
