Channel crossings this year are at their lowest since 2023, official government figures show, as political claims about “record levels” come under scrutiny.
Between 1 January and 20 June 2026, a total of 11,136 people crossed the English Channel on small boats, according to Home Office data. That is lower than the 17,817 recorded over the same period in 2025 and the 12,313 in 2024. It is also below the 11,690 seen in 2022, but slightly above the 10,518 recorded in 2023. In earlier years the numbers were far smaller: 5,261 in 2021, 2,241 in 2020, 592 in 2019 and just 11 in 2018, the year significant crossings began.
The downward trend continues into the most recent full month. May 2026 saw 2,726 arrivals — the lowest figure for May since 2023, and a sharp drop from 3,738 in May last year.
Monthly records set under both Conservative and Labour governments
Despite the overall annual decline, several monthly records have been broken during Labour’s time in office, while the all-time highest month for crossings remains a Conservative-era milestone.
The highest-ever month for small boat arrivals was August 2022, when the Conservatives were in power. Records for January (2022), February (2023), August (2022), September (2022), October (2022) and November (2021) were all set before Labour won the July 2024 general election.
Since Labour took office, records have been set for March (2025), April (2025), May (2025), June (2025), July (2025) and December (2024). March 2025 saw more crossings than any other March since records began. The year-on-year trend for the first five months of this year shows a 38% decrease compared with the same period in 2025, and the year ending 31 May 2026 saw approximately 36,000 arrivals — a 13% fall on the previous year.
Government claims examined
The data was thrust into the political spotlight after Alex Burghart, the Conservative shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, told Times Radio on Monday: “Illegal crossings into this country … continue at record levels.” Challenged on the statement, he added: “We’ve had some record months since Labour came to power.”
His first claim — that crossings are at “record levels” — is not supported by the official figures. The 2026 year-to-date total is the lowest for any year since 2023, and well below the peaks of 2022 and 2025. However, his second assertion is accurate: several months have indeed set new records under Labour, as detailed above.
The debate over small boat crossings has been shaped by successive government policies. The Conservatives introduced the Illegal Migration Act 2023, aimed at stopping arrivals by barring asylum claims and enabling removal to third countries, and announced the Rwanda asylum plan in April 2022. They also pursued bilateral deals with France and, in 2025, imposed further visa restrictions, including closing the care worker route to new overseas recruitment.
Labour, which pledged to “smash the gangs” behind the crossings, has secured new agreements with France and Germany. For the first time since 2018, the UK can now return some migrants to France under a “one-in, one-out” treaty, later amended over re-entry concerns. Its Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill gives law enforcement counter-terror-style powers to target smuggling networks. The government says net migration has fallen, asylum decision-making has doubled, and nearly 70,000 people have been removed from the UK since the 2024 election. It has also introduced a new “core protection” model offering temporary status rather than automatic settlement, and changed Article 8 family rights to make it harder to remain on those grounds.
The vast majority of small boat arrivals apply for asylum: in 2025, 99% did so or were named as dependants. Between 2018 and 2025, the grant rate for small boat arrivals was 62%, higher than the overall asylum applicant grant rate. Returns remain low — about 8,400 people who arrived by small boat had been sent back by March 2026, representing just 4% of total arrivals, the majority to Albania.
Since 2018, more than 130 people have died attempting to cross the Channel. In 2025, 24 fatalities were recorded, down from 73 the previous year. Public opinion surveys show immigration remains a top concern, with 49% of people ranking it among the most important issues facing the country. The cost of accommodating asylum seekers in hotels reached an estimated £4.2 billion in the Conservatives’ last full year in office; Labour has committed to ending the use of such hotels by the end of the current Parliament. The government now states that nearly 70,000 removals have taken place since July 2024.
