Over 100,000 foreign national convictions in just 3 years

Between 2021 and 2023 there were 104,000 foreign national convictions in England and Wales - including tens of thousands of sexual offences, violent crime, and drug offences.

New analysis by the Centre for Migration Control has revealed that there were over 100,000 migrant convictions between 2021 and 2023. Never-before-seen data reveals the scale of the migrant crime crisis gripping the UK and shows which nationalities are driving the surge.

Headline figures

104,000 foreign national convictions took place between 2021 and 2023.

This includes 38,413 for crime relating to violence, sexual assault, drugs and theft.

Foreign nationals were convicted for sexual offences a rate 71% higher than that of the British population, 69% for drug-related crime, 25% for theft, and at 39% for all crime types.

The top five nationalities by conviction per 10,000 were: Albania, Moldova, Congo, Namibia, and Somalia.

For sexual offences the top five nationalities were: Afghanistan, Eritrea, Namibia, Chad, and Moldova.

There were 87 nationalities with a higher conviction rate for sexual offences than the British population. In 2024, these nationalities were awarded 557,041 long-term visas by the Home Office.

Total convictions

There were 872,488 criminal convictions recorded on the Police National Computer between 2021 and 2023.

833,522 of those convicted had identifiable nationality information. Foreign nationals accounted for 104,000 of these, and those individuals about whom no nationality information was held accounted for a further 38,966. This means that migrants accounted for between 12.5% and 16.4% of convictions in England and Wales, despite census data showing they are just 9.3% of the population.

In 2023 alone there were 35,400 migrant convictions and a further 12,600 where the nationality of the offender was unknown. This means that migrants accounted for between 12.85% and 16.6% of convictions.

In raw numbers the top ten nationalities for overall convictions (2021-23) were:

1. Romania: 15,701 6. India: 3,242

2. Poland: 13,333 7. Portugal: 3,049

3. Albania: 7,653 8. Latvia: 2,546

4. Lithuania: 5,521 9. Bulgaria: 2,280

5. Ireland: 4,643 10. Pakistan: 2,199

However, if we take the number of convictions per 10,000 of the population there is a vastly different picture:

Overall, there were 66 nationalities with a higher conviction rate than the British population. The 25 nationalities with the highest conviction rates were awarded 62,087 long-term visas in 2024.

Sexual offence convictions

There were 16,771 convictions for sexual offences, with a known nationality, between 2021 and 2023 and migrants accounted for 2,500 of these. This is 15% of sexual offence convictions during this time period.

A further 1,652 convictions were of individuals where the nationality was “unknown”. This means that between up to 23% of all sexual offence convictions could have been of foreign nationals.

The top ten nationalities, in raw numbers, were:

1. Romania: 987 6. Afghanistan: 77

2. Poland: 208 7. Sudan: 66

3. India: 148 8. Bangladesh: 65

4. Pakistan: 144 9. Lithuania: 65

5. Portugal: 79 10. Iran: 63

Roughly a third of all sexual offence crimes reported are of rape.

The UK has an acute problem with effectively prosecuting and convicting perpetrators of rape and sexual offences. Between 2021 and 2023 there were 535,500 sexual offences recorded by the police. This means the conviction rate is just 3.1%.

Overall, there were 87 nationalities that had a higher conviction rate than the British population. In 2024, the 25 nationalities with the highest sexual offence conviction rates were awarded 52,486 long-term visas. All nationalities with a higher conviction rate than Britain were awarded 557,041 long-term visas in 2024.

Violent crime convictions

There were 93,401 convictions for violent crime between 2021 and 2023 where the individual had a known identity. Foreign nationals accounted for 8,230 of these.

A further 3,425 convictions were of individuals with an “unknown” nationality. This means that foreign nationals accounted for between 8.8% and 12% of violent crime convictions between 2021 and 2023.

The top 10 nationalities, in raw numbers, were:

1. Poland: 1,367 6. Latvia: 240

2. Romania: 900 7. Somalia: 194

3. Ireland: 477 8. Pakistan: 192

4. Lithuania: 450 9. India: 191

5. Portugal: 280 10. Jamaica: 174

Per 10,000 of the population, the conviction rates per nationality are as follows:

Overall, there were 59 nationalities with a higher conviction rate for violent offences than the British population. The 25 nationalities with the highest conviction rate for violent offences were awarded 38,210 long-term visas in 2024.

Drug convictions

Between 2021 and 2023 there were 104,103 convictions for drug-related offences with an identifiable nationality. Of this number, 13,500 were migrant convictions which accounts for 14.75% of the total figure.

A further 2,926 convictions were of individuals with an “unknown” nationality. This would mean that up to 15.3% of drug-related convictions were of foreign nationals, despite them accounting for just 9.3% of the population of England and Wales.

The top 10 nationalities, in raw numbers, were:

1. Albania: 4,821 6. Vietnam: 452

2. Poland: 1,311 7. Jamaica: 415

3. Lithuania: 578 8. Somalia: 405

4. Romania: 567 9. Italy: 307

5. Portugal: 518 10. Ireland: 298

Per 10,000 of the population, the conviction rates per nationality are as follows:

There were 71 nationalities that had a higher conviction rate for drug offences than the British population. In 2024, the top 25 of these nationalities were awarded 39,251 long-term visas.

Foreign nationals were convicted of drug related offences at a rate that is 69% higher than the British population.

Theft convictions

Between 2021 and 2023 there were 108,132 convictions for theft in England and Wales with an identifiable nationality. Of these, 12,320 were of foreign nationals (11.4%). A further 1,545 were of individuals with an “unknown” nationality, meaning foreign nationals could have accounted for up to 12.6% of all theft convictions.

The top 10 nationalities, in raw numbers, were:

1. Romania: 4,393 6. Algeria: 384

2. Poland: 1,072 7. Slovakia: 301

3. Ireland: 1,022 8. Latvia: 274

4. Lithuania: 516 9. Czech Republic: 267

5. Bulgaria: 514 10. Iran: 222

Per 10,000 of the population, the conviction rates per nationality were as follows:

There were 46 nationalities that had a higher conviction related for theft than the British population. The top 25 nationalities were awarded 36,345 long-term visas in 2024.

Foreign nationals were convicted for theft at a rate that was 25% greater than the British population.

Further data points

In 2023, foreign nationals accounted for 1,479 of the 11,798 convictions for possession of a weapon (12.5%) and therefore at a rate 46% greater than the British public. There were 71 nationalities with a higher conviction rate per 10,000 than the British public. The top 10 were as follows:

In 2023, foreign nationals were convicted for robbery at a rate that was 33% higher than the British public. They accounted for 366 of the 3,149 convictions (11.6%) for this offence.

There for 45 nationalities with a higher conviction rate for robbery than the British population, and the top ten nationalities were as follows: