UK lists 4 countries with highest number of deportations in last 5 years

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The UK recorded a steady increase in enforced returns after the number of people returned fell sharply during the COVID-19 pandemic, with nationals of five countries accounting for a significant share of returns in recent years.

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According to the UK Home Office’s immigration statistics, there were 9,914 enforced returns in the year ending December 2025, representing a 21% increase from the 8,169 recorded in the previous year.

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The Home Office’s data tracks the five most common nationalities for enforced returns from the year ending December 2021 to the year ending December 2025.

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Here are the four countries whose nationals featured most prominently in the latest figures.

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1. Albania

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Albanian nationals have consistently been the most common nationality for enforced returns over the last five years, according to the Home Office.

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In the year ending December 2025, 2,440 Albanian nationals were subject to enforced returns, accounting for about 25% of all 9,914 enforced returns recorded during the period.

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However, the figure was 7% lower than the previous year.

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The Home Office said enforced returns of Albanian nationals increased following the signing of the UK-Albania Joint Communique in December 2022, which came after substantial numbers of Albanian nationals arrived in the UK by small boats in 2022.

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Foreign national offenders also accounted for more than half of Albanian enforced returns in the latest year.

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2. Romania

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Romanian nationals recorded the second-highest number of enforced returns among the nationalities highlighted by the Home Office.

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There were 1,818 enforced returns of Romanian nationals in the year ending December 2025.

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This represented a 20% increase compared with the previous year.

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The Home Office said foreign national offenders accounted for more than half of Romanian enforced returns during the latest 12-month period.

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Romania’s position in the figures comes amid wider changes to the UK’s immigration system following the end of EU free movement.

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3. Brazil

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Brazilian nationals recorded 939 enforced returns from the UK in the year ending December 2025.

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The figure was 61% higher than the previous year, making Brazil one of the nationalities with the largest increases among the prominent nationalities.

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Unlike the figures for Albania and Romania, foreign national offenders accounted for a much smaller proportion of Brazilian enforced returns.

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Brazilian nationals have also featured prominently in the UK’s wider return figures. The Home Office recorded 4,759 voluntary returns of Brazilian nationals in the year ending December 2025.

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4. India

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The number of Indian nationals subject to enforced returns almost doubled to 781 in the year ending December 2025.

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India was therefore among the nationalities that recorded a particularly sharp increase in enforced returns during the period.

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The Home Office said, as with Brazil, foreign national offenders accounted for a much smaller proportion of Indian enforced returns than they did for Albanian and Romanian nationals.

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Indian nationals also recorded a much larger number of voluntary returns, with 8,652 Indians voluntarily returning from the UK during the same 12-month period.

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