The number of people waiting more than six months for an initial decision was 73,866 at the end of December, down from 83,888 at the end of September and well below the recent peak of 139,961 in June 2023.
The data shows 38,079 asylum seekers were being housed temporarily in hotels at the end of December, up 2,428 from 35,651 at the end of September.
There were 124,802 people waiting for an initial decision on an asylum application at the end of December – down 6% from 133,409 at the end of September.
Responding to the figures on Thursday, Marley Morris, from the Institute for Public Policy Research think tank, said: “If the Home Office wants to end the use of hotels, it will need to double down on efforts to improve the speed and quality of decision-making.
The data also shows that the most common nationality among asylum applicants in 2024 was Pakistani, accounting for 10,542 people or 9.7% of the total.
