Foreign nationals in the UK are making around 1.9 million benefit claims, according to estimated figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The data includes all benefit-types, including disability claims, child allowance, pension credits, carer’s allowance and housing benefit.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said it is an “outrageous cost to the taxpayer” while Shadow Home Secretary Chris Phil described the situation as “totally unsustainable and unfair”. The statistics show that 1,897,000 claims were made by foreign nations between April and June 2025. These included 54% from EU citizens and 46% from nations outside the EU. Meanwhile, an additional 1,479,000 claims were made by foreign-born people who now hold a British passport. This equates to a total of around 3.4 million claims made by individuals born outside of the UK.
Of the 1.9 million claims from foreign nationals, 674,000 are for Universal Credit. Nearly 123,000 are getting housing benefits, and 1580,000 are receiving sickness or disability benefits.
As reported by the Telegraph, Nigel Farage said: “This outrageous cost to the taxpayer is before the Boriswave gets indefinite leave to remain. Things can only get worse.”
Chris Philp added: “This is totally unsustainable and unfair. We should not use hard-earned taxpayers’ money to pay benefits to people who have not made a meaningful contribution to the UK.
“I wouldn’t expect to go to another country and start claiming benefits, so why should foreign nationals who come here? Only where someone has made a sustained and meaningful contribution and earned citizenship, or where we are bound by a treaty, should foreign citizens get benefits.”
Once foreign nationals are granted refugee status or indefinite leave to remain (ILR), they become eligible for benefits, including Universal Credit, on the same terms as British citizens. According to Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood, migrants’ rights to ILR will depend on their not claiming benefits, paying national insurance, having a clean criminal record, speaking English to a good standard, and volunteering in the local community.
Meanwhile, Reform UK has pledged to abolish ILR for non-EU citizens and the Tories have proposed that the scheme will require them to be “net contributors” to the economy. Nigel Farage vowed to replace the ILR with a five-year visa system that requires far stricter criteria.
Rob Bates, the research director of the Centre for Migration Control, which obtained the data on benefits claims, said: “These figures give an indication of the huge pressure being put on the public purse by low-skilled mass migration.
“ILR does not benefit this country and allows huge numbers of foreign nationals to enjoy a subsidised lifestyle at the expense of the UK taxpayer.
“The numbers receiving welfare are set to skyrocket from next year unless the Home Secretary takes immediate action to prevent hundreds of thousands who arrived during the Boriswave from receiving settled status.”
