Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many asylum seekers were housed in dispersed accommodation in Northern Ireland on 31 December (a) 2022 and (b) 2024.

Only those individuals claiming asylum in Northern Ireland are accommodated there.

Northern Ireland’s asylum population is proportionate to its population when compared to the UK. There were 1,853 asylum seekers in dispersal accommodation in Northern Ireland on 31 December 2022, and 2,285 on 31 December 2024.

Data on the number of supported asylum seekers in accommodation and by local authority is published on a quarterly basis, the most recent statistics release available is for December 2024. Statistics are available on GOV.UK at Immigration system statistics data tables - GOV.UK.