Migrant small boat Channel crossings in 2025 are second highest ever

A total of 41,472 migrants arrived in the UK in 2025 after crossing the Channel on a small boat - the second-highest annual figure on record.

No migrants made the journey on New Year's Eve, the Home Office confirmed on Thursday, with the last recorded crossing made on 22 December.

It means the overall number of arrivals last year ended up 9% below the all-time high of 45,774 in 2022.

The total for 2025 was 13% higher than in 2024, when 36,816 migrants made the journey, and 41% higher than 2023's total of 29,437.

The first half of 2025 saw 19,982 people arrive, a record number in that period.

However, that pace slowed during the last two months of the year and there were long periods when no migrants arrived, including a 28-day run from 15 November to 12 December.

There was an average of 62 people per small boat that arrived in 2025, which is up from 53 in 2024 and 49 in 2023.

Charities estimate that at least 36 people died trying to make the journey last year, including an eight-year-old girl and her mother, who were crushed on a boat in May, the Mirror reports.

The number of arrivals in 2025 has heaped pressure on Sir Keir Starmer's government, having entered office in July 2024 with a repeated vow to "smash the gangs" and reduce the number of crossings. Almost 65,000 migrants have arrived since then.

The UK's Border Security Commander, Martin Hewitt, tasked with curbing Channel crossings, told MPs in October that the number of arrivals in 2025 was "frustrating" but that work to stop the smuggling route was "always going to take time".

The government has also introduced and announced changes to legislation in a bid to stop Channel crossings, including:

• The Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Act, which became law in December, that introduces new criminal offences and allows law enforcement agencies to use counter terror-style powers to crack down on people-smuggling gangs.
• Plans for what Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood has described as "the most significant changes to our asylum system in modern times" in a bid to deter people from coming to the UK and make it easier to deport them.
• Making refugee status temporary, with regular reviews of the safety of the person's home country, and a wait of 20 years for permanent status.

But the government faces a fight once again with its own MPs to get those measures through, with some Labour parliamentarians branding the measures "shameful" and echoing the rhetoric of Nigel Farage's Reform UK.

Tap here to read more about the government's planned asylum reforms.

Meanwhile, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the measures did not go far enough, adding that leaving the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was necessary to address the problem.

Both the Conservatives and Reform UK have pressed for quitting the human rights treaty as a way to tackle illegal immigration, but the Labour government has insisted it will not leave the ECHR and instead seeks to adjust how immigration cases are interpreted in UK law.

Deputy Prime Minister David Lammy met ministers from ECHR member states last month, who agreed to consider reforming the treaty to address illegal migration.

International cooperation has also formed part of the government's strategy, such as through the "one in, one out" returns deal with France that came into force in August.

On 16 December, border security minister Alex Norris told peers that 193 migrants had been sent back to France and 195 had arrived in the UK under the returns deal so far.

But the scheme has drawn criticism as being "no deterrent at all" by shadow home secretary Chris Philp, amid cases of two migrants returning to the UK after being removed to France under the deal, who were then deported again.

Reacting to the total number of Channel crossings for 2025, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage wrote on X: "Smash the gangs is a complete disaster. One in, one out is a farce and the numbers have been huge. Many of the young men that arrived last year will do us great harm."

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said: "Most men, women and children taking these journeys have fled oppressive regimes like the Taliban in Afghanistan and brutal civil wars in countries like Sudan.

"No-one risks their life on a flimsy boat in the Channel except out of desperation to be safe in a country where they have family or community connections.

"It's right the government wants to stop Channel crossings but plans that will punish people found to be refugees are unfair and not an effective deterrent."

He added that there needs to be a "multi-pronged approach", including targeting gangs and international cooperation to ensure refugees can access safe and legal routes - something Ms Mahmood has included in plans to overhaul the asylum system.

A Home Office spokesperson said: "The number of small boat crossings are shameful and the British people deserve better.

"This government is taking action. We have removed almost 50,000 people who were here illegally, and our historic deal with the French means those who arrive on small boats are now being sent back.

"The Home Secretary has announced the most sweeping reforms to tackle illegal migration in decades, removing the incentives that bring illegal migrants to the UK and scaling up the return of those with no right to be here."

(c) Sky News 2026: Migrant small boat Channel crossings in 2025 are second highest ever