The number of Portuguese criminals deported from the UK last year rose by 68% compared to 2024, according to official statistics published by the British Home Office today.
Last year, 141 Portuguese nationals convicted of crimes were deported – compared to 84 in 2024, placing Portugal behind only Albania, Romania, Poland, Lithuania, and Bulgaria in terms of the number of deportations of this type.
Conversely, the number of Portuguese citizens prevented from entering the UK on arrival at the border, and subsequently returned, decreased by 30%, falling from 424 in 2024 to 298 in 2025.
Refusals of entry at ports and airports for European citizens have increased since 2020, when freedom of movement ceased due to Brexit and visas became required for those wishing to work in the United Kingdom.
The same data also indicates that the total number of Portuguese nationals forced to return to their country of origin grew by 38% in 2025 (145 cases), compared to 107 in 2024.
Voluntary returns, which cover people subject to immigration control or action but who leave on their own initiative – sometimes with logistical or financial support from the British authorities – rose by 52%, from 54 in 2024 to 82 in 2025.
Overall, 592 Portuguese nationals without legal rights to remain in the United Kingdom, and subject to administrative expatriation or a deportation order, returned in 2025, 14% less than the 688 recorded in 2024.
The increase in Portuguese returns is part of a gradual tightening of British migration policy, which the Labour government has been implementing.
Since 2024, more than 1,000 officials have been transferred to border services to “protect borders” and increase repatriations.
LUSA
