The number of people offered protection in the UK, in the form of asylum, resettlement and other types of leave, fell by more than a half in the year to March 2021, figures show.
A total of 8,640 people were granted protection, down 58% from 20,331 in the previous year reports PA.
It is the lowest number for any 12-month period since the year to September 2014.
The drop reflects the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, which led to fewer decisions made on asylum applications as well as pause in resettlement, according to the Home Office, which published the figures.
A sharp fall in air passengers is also likely to have reduced the number of people travelling to the UK for asylum using this route, which could have affected the number of decisions made on such cases.
All resettlement activity in the UK was paused between March and November 2020, leading to a drop of 93% in the number of resettlement grants from 4,968 in 2019/20 to just 353 in 2020/21.
Grants following an asylum application had increased in every 12-month period from the year to June 2018 (8,616) to the year to March 2020 (15,363).
But since then the number has dropped steadily, with 8,287 applications granted in the year to March 2021: a year-on-year fall of 46%.
There were 26,903 asylum applications (relating to 32,411 people) in the UK in 2020/21, down nearly a quarter (24%) on the previous year.
This included 2,044 applications from unaccompanied asylum-seeking children, down 42% year-on-year.
