The UK’s asylum system now costs more than £5 billion a year, the highest level on record, new figures show.

Home Office spending on asylum has jumped by more than a third, from £3.95 billion in 2022/23 to £5.38 billion in 2023/24, according to PA news agency analysis of data published on Thursday.

This is a rise of 36%, or £1.43 billion, and is the highest total since comparable data began in 2010/11.

It is more than four times the equivalent figure for 2020/21 (£1.34 billion) and nearly 12 times the total a decade ago in 2013/14 (£0.45 billion).

The total covers all Home Office asylum costs, including direct cash support and accommodation, plus wider staffing and other related migration and border activity.

The figure does not include the cost of operations launched to intercept Channel crossings by migrants – although the majority of people who arrive in the UK by this route do apply for asylum.

Separate data published on Thursday showed a total of 133,409 people were waiting for an initial decision on an asylum application in the UK at the end of September 2024.

This is up 12% from 118,882 at the end of June 2024, but down year-on-year by 19% from 165,411 at the end of September 2023.

The figure peaked at 175,457 at the end of June 2023, which was the highest since current records began in 2010.

The number of people waiting more than six months for an initial decision stood at 83,888 at the end of September, up from 76,268 at the end of June, but down year-on-year by 33% from 124,461.

A total of 99,790 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to September 2024, up very slightly from 98,926 in the previous 12 months.

The figure peaked in the year to March 2023, at 102,878 people, which was the highest total for any 12-month period since 2002.

Migrants who arrived in the UK after crossing the English Channel in small boats accounted for 28% of the total number of people claiming asylum in the year to September, the Home Office said.

Some 35,651 asylum seekers were being housed temporarily in UK hotels at the end of September, up 6,066 from 29,585 at the end of June.

It is the first quarterly rise for a year, although the figure is still some way below the recent peak of 56,042 at the end of September 2023.

Asylum seekers and their families are housed in temporary accommodation if they are waiting for the outcome of a claim or an appeal and have been assessed as not being able to support themselves independently.

They are housed in hotels if there is not enough space in accommodation provided by local authorities or other organisations.