Public Overestimates Asylum-Seeker Numbers in UK, Survey Shows
- Misconception skews discourse on migration, think tank says
- Half of Ipsos survey respondents think net migration will rise
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The UK public significantly overestimates how many migrants are coming to the country as asylum-seekers, a misconception that skews conversation around migration policy, a think tank study found.
Britons on average think asylum-seekers make up 37% of migrants to the UK — more than five times the actual figure of 7%, the study from the British Future think tank and research firm Ipsos found. One in five people think asylum makes up more than half of total UK immigration, with a higher proportion among supporters of the right-wing Reform UK and Conservative parties.