Refugees Not More Likely to Commit Crime Than UK Citizens
“Are refugees responsible for more crime in the UK than citizens”
Summary
Refugees and other non‑citizens are not responsible for more crime than UK citizens. When age and gender are accounted for, their share of the prison population is actually lower than that of British citizens, and multiple analyses find no evidence that refugee presence raises overall crime rates.
Sources 57 searched
- Crime by nationality and immigration status 2025 - Office for National Statistics
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) are primarily responsible for data on offenders, prosecutions and convictions, and may be able to help you further with your enquiry. They can be contacted at data.access@Justice.gov.uk.
- Percentage of crimes committed by migrants and illegal migrants - Office for National Statistics
The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) are primarily responsible for data on offenders and sentencing and may be able to help you with your enquiry. They can be contacted at data.access@Justice.gov.uk.
- Availability of data linking migration or asylum status with recorded crime - Office for National Statistics
While no formal briefing exists on the availability or quality of data linking migration or asylum status with recorded crime or criminal justice outcomes, the Office for Statistics Regulation holds an internal briefing document on media coverage of sexual offences in London committed by foreign nationals that was compiled as part of the crime team's horizon scanning. This can be found on pages 3 to 13 in the associated download bundle. In the bundle, we collated publicly available statements regarding this subject. Where these are available publicly, they have not been provided in the response, however we have provided the following links to them:
- Are asylum seekers really more likely to commit violent crime in the UK? | Immigration and asylum | The Guardian
When you adjust for age and sex – important because young men are disproportionately likely to commit crime, and migrant populations tend to be younger – the share of non-citizens in prison is actually lower than the share of British citizens.
- Disputed or debunked claims about migration and crime in the UK | Crime | The Guardian
As politicians face criticism for promoting misleading data, here are some claims that do not bear scrutiny
- How do conviction rates and prison populations differ between British and foreign nationals? - Migration Observatory
Estimates from the 2024 Annual Population Survey—the most recent available—suggest that roughly 12% of people aged 16 or over were non-citizens that year, but this may be an underestimate: response rates are lower among recent arrivals, and the UK experienced unusually high migration from 2021 to 2024. In addition, the ONS does not interview people living in communal establishments, such as asylum hotels, student halls, and prisons. The share of prisoners who are foreign nationals varies by age and sex, however. Age is extremely important when examining crime statistics, because young adults are much more likely to commit offences.
- Immigration and crime - Wikipedia
According to one study, "there is little evidence to support the theory that the foreign national prison population continues to grow because foreign nationals are more likely to commit crime than are British citizens or more likely to commit ...
- FFS explains: Do refugees increase crime in the UK?
A 2018 analysis of migration from the European Economic Area for the UK Government found no evidence that migration had an effect on crime rates in England and Wales.
This fact check is free and donation-based. $1 powers ~30 fact-checks.
