More than 36,000 migrants crossed English Channel to UK in 2024 - up 25% on 2023

A total of 36,816 migrants crossed the English Channel to the UK in 2024, provisional government figures show.

The figure is up 25% on 2023 when 29,437 people arrived in small boats.

The number successfully making the journey in 2024 is the second-highest since records began in 2018. The total, however, is down 20% on the record 45,774 arrivals in 2022.

The number of people who died while making the hazardous journey was not published in the Home Office data.

More people have been arriving since the figures began to be collated. In 2018 there were 299 people who arrived, in 2019 there were 1,843 which more than quadrupled to 8,466 in 2020 before tripling to 28,526 individuals in 2021.

The last crossings of the year took place on 29 December, when 291 people made the journey from France in six boats.

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