The number represents some 60% of the UK’s total population of undocumented immigrants, according to a new study
Upwards of 600,000 illegal migrants are living in London, The Telegraph has reported, citing a new study. This figure represents some 60% of the over one million illegal immigrants believed to be living in the UK.
For the entire city, the study, which was obtained by the newspaper under freedom of information laws for the environment, produced a range of 390,355 illegal migrants at the low end of its estimate to 585,533 at the highest, with a median figure of 487,944.
Thames Water, a private utility firm, reportedly commissioned the research to assess the number of hidden users of its services to better meet demand.
In total, over a million illegal migrants reside across Britain, the study, which was conducted by Edge Analytics, and demography and data experts at Leeds University, estimated. The study also suggested that most illegal migrants arrived in the country to work or study, or just as visitors, but end up staying after their visas expire.
The analysis is reportedly based on estimates of illegal migrants nationally made by the Pew Research Center, London School of Economics, Office for National Statistics data, and others. The researchers also used National Insurance registrations for non-EU foreign nationals over a nine-year period to assess the number of “irregular” migrants in each borough of the British capital.
The Home Office has not revealed comprehensive data about illegal migration in the country. It has only published figures on the number of illegals reaching the UK since 2018 through the English Channel. As of December 2024, over 150,000 migrants had arrived in the UK by crossing the Channel in small boats. The Home Office reported earlier this month that nearly 37,000 people arrived in the country by the route last year.
In November, The Times reported that British Prime Minister Keir Starmer was in talks with Türkiye, Vietnam and officials in the Kurdistan region of Iraq about possible payments to help slow the flow of migrants heading for the UK. “Anything else we can do to stop people leaving in the first place is the right thing,” the premier was quoted as saying.
In August, UK Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced plans to introduce a series of measures aimed at tackling illegal immigration in the UK and strengthening border security. The measures, which included a surge in enforcement and return flights, as well as increasing detention capacity and implementing sanctions against employers who hire workers illegally, have been slammed as “a waste of taxpayer money.” Critics claimed that the policies lack detail and fail to recognize “the dignity and humanity of migrants.”
The survey, which was conducted by the Ipsos Group in August, suggested that two-thirds of Brits believe immigration policy was responsible for the wave of right-wing riots that hit the country after a British teenager of Rwandan descent killed three little girls and injured ten others in the town of Southport.
