Home Office · Immigration system statistics: illegal entry routes detailed dataset · 5 values
Small boat arrivals by age group
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.
latest 12 months to 2026 Q2; 4 quarters summed · total 33,374 people · published 27 August 2026
| Age Group | Latest 12 months | Share | Previous 12 months | Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 25 to 39 | 14,341 | 43% | 19,440 | ▼ 26.2% |
| 18 to 24 | 10,637 | 31.9% | 14,381 | ▼ 26% |
| 17 and under | 4,993 | 15% | 5,515 | ▼ 9.5% |
| 40 and over | 2,263 | 6.8% | 3,290 | ▼ 31.2% |
| Not currently recorded | 1,140 | 3.4% | 683 | ▲ 66.9% |
Source
- Dataset
- Immigration system statistics: illegal entry routes detailed dataset · sheet Data_IER_D01
- Rows
- Method of entry=Small boat arrivals; values are the sum of the published rows for each age group and period.
- Caveat
- Ages established by later age assessment, arrivals by other illegal routes, or people who arrived undetected.
- Parent metric
- Small boat arrivals
- API
- /api/metrics/small_boat_arrivals_by_age_group/vintages