Stately

Home Office · Immigration system statistics: illegal entry routes detailed dataset

Small boat arrivals by age group

2026 Q2 Provisional

7,443people

Small boat arrivals by age group were 7,443 people in 2026 Q2, down 44.2% (5,897) from 13,340 in 2025 Q2.

▼ 44.2% · −5,897 against 2025 Q2 (same quarter previous year)

  1. Home Office count
  2. 2026 Q2
  3. published 27 August 2026
  4. IER_D01
  5. row “Method of entry=Small boat arrivals”
  6. column “Number of detections”
  7. cell value sum of 235 rows

The series is falling. Rule: down 44.2% from 2025 Q2 to 2026 Q2.

2018 Q1 to 2026 Q2

Small boat arrivals by age group: 2018 Q1 to 2026 Q2ConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeLabourLabour010k20k201820202022202420262018 Q1: 7 people · published 27 August 20262018 Q2: 4 people · published 27 August 20262018 Q3: 17 people · published 27 August 20262018 Q4: 271 people · published 27 August 20262019 Q1: 199 people · published 27 August 20262019 Q2: 393 people · published 27 August 20262019 Q3: 747 people · published 27 August 20262019 Q4: 504 people · published 27 August 20262020 Q1: 465 people · published 27 August 20262020 Q2: 2,028 people · published 27 August 20262020 Q3: 4,529 people · published 27 August 20262020 Q4: 1,444 people · published 27 August 20262021 Q1: 1,363 people · published 27 August 20262021 Q2: 4,554 people · published 27 August 20262021 Q3: 11,167 people · published 27 August 20262021 Q4: 11,442 people · published 27 August 20262022 Q1: 4,548 people · published 27 August 20262022 Q2: 8,199 people · published 27 August 20262022 Q3: 20,301 people · published 27 August 20262022 Q4: 12,726 people · published 27 August 20262023 Q1: 3,793 people · published 27 August 20262023 Q2: 7,640 people · published 27 August 20262023 Q3: 13,397 people · published 27 August 20262023 Q4: 4,607 people · published 27 August 20262024 Q1: 5,435 people · published 27 August 20262024 Q2: 8,054 people · published 27 August 20262024 Q3: 11,755 people · published 27 August 20262024 Q4: 11,572 people · published 27 August 20262025 Q1: 6,642 people · published 27 August 20262025 Q2: 13,340 people · published 27 August 20262025 Q3: 14,105 people · published 27 August 20262025 Q4: 7,385 people · published 27 August 20262026 Q1: 4,441 people · published 27 August 20262026 Q2: 7,443 people · published 27 August 2026
Published valueProvisional or revisedLatestShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover or use arrow keys to read a value

What this measures

The number of people detected arriving in the UK by small boat across the Channel in each quarter, split by age group as recorded at detection.

What this doesn’t measure

Ages established by later age assessment, arrivals by other illegal routes, or people who arrived undetected.

Important caveat

Detected small boat arrivals summed from the Home Office detailed dataset; official statistics in development, not accredited official statistics. Nationality, sex and age group are as recorded at detection, and a share of recent arrivals is "Not currently recorded". Undetected arrivals are not included. Data for 2026 Q1 onwards is provisional and will be revised.

Revision history

No period of this series has been revised since it was first ingested here. Revisions are recorded automatically when a later release publishes a different figure for the same period.

Source

Publisher
Home Office
Publication
Immigration system statistics: illegal entry routes detailed dataset
Release
Year ending June 2026, published 27 August 2026
Source file
illegal-entry-routes-to-the-uk-dataset-jun-2026.xlsx
File SHA-256
72071ed0ce3777a2cbad25672b76ca49a526e5eeb35e7cabb3a3a67e4d9157d0
Retrieved
2 September 2026
Sheet
Data_IER_D01
Table
IER_D01
Row
Method of entry=Small boat arrivals
Column
Number of detections
Cell value
sum of 235 rows
Geography
United Kingdom
Unit
people
API
/api/metrics/small_boat_arrivals_by_age_group · /series · /vintages

Government periods

Change during each government, from the level inherited to the last complete period before it left office. Describes the period; does not attribute cause.

Labour 2024–8,0542024 Q27,4432026 Q2↓ 7.6%
Conservative 2019–20247472019 Q38,0542024 Q2↑ 978.2%

Full comparison with chart

Release
Year ending June 2026 · publication page
Last updated
27 August 2026
Next scheduled release
26 November 2026 (official date)