Foreign nationals claiming Universal Credit
Visualisations for the increasing number of foreign nationals and asylum seekers claiming Universal Credit
Following campaigning from MPs, particularly from Rupert Lowe and Nick Timothy, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) agreed to publish data on the nationality status of those claiming Universal Credit, allowing us to see how many are foreign nationals (e.g. those with Indefinite Leave to Remain) and those who have been granted some form of protection.
It’s worth noting anyone with British or Irish citizenship, or anyone with right to abode, is not counted as a foreign national in these statistics, even if they may have been born abroad or hold citizenship in multiple countries.
The following charts are made using data obtained from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), specifically the Universal Credit immigration status and nationality statistics to July 2025 data table.
Below are links to the Datawrapper charts and high-quality images at the end of the article. For more information on sharing these charts, please see the about page for the Substack.
Asylum Seekers claiming Universal Credit
First up we have asylum seekers, this one is rather simple, anyone with Humanitarian or Refugee status is included in the chart below.
The number of Universal Credit claimants with either Humanitarian or Refugee status has increased massively in recent years. In April 2022, there were 67,444 people claiming Universal Credit with either status.
Fast forward to July 2025 and this has increased to 174,299, an increase of 158%.
It can be without doubt that this figure will continue to increase. 2025 is set to be the worst year on record for channel crossings and the majority of illegal migrants who arrive will have their asylum claims approved, if not at initial decision, after appeal.
Foreign nationals claiming Universal Credit
Next we have the total number of foreign nationals claiming Universal Credit. For this chart, I count anyone as a foreign national if they are categorised under any of the following:
EU Settlement Scheme
Humanitarian
Refugee
Indefinite Leave to Remain
Limited Leave to Remain
I do not include ‘Other’ or ‘No immigration status recorded on digital systems’ for the following chart.
Here’s an except from the document showing the categories.
In April 2022, there were 876,986 foreign nationals claiming Universal Credit, by July 2025, this had increased to 1,233,649, an increase of 41%.
High-quality images
Lastly, here are the high-quality PNG images for the charts above.
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