{"id":3495,"date":"2026-07-03T12:53:54","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T12:53:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/etavisauk.org\/en\/uk-eta-statistics\/"},"modified":"2026-07-03T12:54:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-03T12:54:00","slug":"uk-eta-statistics","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/etavisauk.org\/bg\/uk-eta-statistics\/","title":{"rendered":"UK ETA Statistics 2026: Applications, Refusals & Nationality Data"},"content":{"rendered":"

Data coverage:<\/strong> October 2023 – 31 March 2026 (provisional) · Last updated:<\/strong> 3 July 2026 · Next update:<\/strong> shortly after the Home Office release on 27 August 2026<\/p>\n

This page tracks the official statistics of the United Kingdom’s Electronic Travel Authorisation (ETA) scheme: how many people apply, how many ETAs are issued, how many applications are refused or rejected, and which nationalities use the scheme most. Every figure on this page comes directly from Home Office publications — primarily the quarterly Electronic travel authorisation detailed datasets<\/em> (tables ETA_D01 and ETA_D02). Nothing here is estimated, modelled or taken from third parties. Journalists, researchers and editors are welcome to reuse these figures with attribution — see how to cite this page<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Key figures<\/h2>\n
\n
\n
30,593,705<\/div>\n
ETA applications since launch (Oct 2023 – Mar 2026)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
30,465,805<\/div>\n
ETAs issued since launch<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
25,088,952<\/div>\n
ETAs issued, year ending March 2026<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
0.10%<\/div>\n
refusal rate, year ending March 2026<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
4,725,142<\/div>\n
ETAs issued to US nationals, the largest group (YE Mar 2026)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n
27 Aug 2026<\/div>\n
next Home Office data release<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

ETA applications and outcomes by quarter<\/h2>\n

Application volumes climbed in three clear steps, mirroring the scheme’s phased rollout. Quarterly volumes stayed below about 220,000 through most of 2024, when only Qatar (from November 2023) and six further Middle Eastern nationalities (from February 2024) needed an ETA. The first jump came in Q4 2024, as applications opened to the remaining non-European visa-free nationalities ahead of their mandatory date of 8 January 2025. The decisive shift arrived in Q2 2025 — the first full quarter in which European visitors needed an ETA (mandatory from 2 April 2025) — with 8,032,397 applications, still the busiest quarter on record. Volumes have since settled in a range of roughly 5.2 to 6.3 million per quarter. In the most recent quarter, Q1 2026, the Home Office received 5,634,500 applications and issued 5,608,553 ETAs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Quarter<\/th>\nApplications<\/th>\nETAs issued<\/th>\nRefused<\/th>\nRejected<\/th>\nRefusal rate<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
2023 Q4<\/td>\n12,190<\/td>\n12,076<\/td>\n22<\/td>\n52<\/td>\n0.18%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2024 Q1<\/td>\n171,453<\/td>\n168,649<\/td>\n427<\/td>\n2,013<\/td>\n0.25%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2024 Q2<\/td>\n209,640<\/td>\n207,542<\/td>\n190<\/td>\n1,506<\/td>\n0.09%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2024 Q3<\/td>\n215,623<\/td>\n213,712<\/td>\n190<\/td>\n1,632<\/td>\n0.09%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2024 Q4<\/td>\n492,012<\/td>\n489,725<\/td>\n509<\/td>\n2,353<\/td>\n0.10%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2025 Q1<\/td>\n4,303,854<\/td>\n4,285,149<\/td>\n3,195<\/td>\n13,109<\/td>\n0.07%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2025 Q2<\/td>\n8,032,397<\/td>\n8,005,497<\/td>\n5,099<\/td>\n23,062<\/td>\n0.06%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2025 Q3<\/td>\n6,291,178<\/td>\n6,264,803<\/td>\n6,277<\/td>\n19,443<\/td>\n0.10%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2025 Q4<\/td>\n5,230,858<\/td>\n5,210,099<\/td>\n6,985<\/td>\n15,298<\/td>\n0.13%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2026 Q1<\/td>\n5,634,500<\/td>\n5,608,553<\/td>\n7,263<\/td>\n18,691<\/td>\n0.13%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Year ending March 2026<\/td>\n25,188,933<\/td>\n25,088,952<\/td>\n25,624<\/td>\n76,494<\/td>\n0.10%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
All time (Oct 2023 – Mar 2026)<\/td>\n30,593,705<\/td>\n30,465,805<\/td>\n30,157<\/td>\n97,159<\/td>\n0.10%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Outcomes in a quarter can relate to applications made in an earlier period, so applications and decisions in the same quarter do not match exactly (Home Office dataset, note 2). Refusal rate = refused decisions ÷ all decisions in the period. Source: ETA_D01 and ETA_D02.<\/p>\n

ETAs by nationality, year ending March 2026<\/h2>\n

United States nationals were by far the largest single group in the year ending March 2026, with 4,725,142 ETAs issued — not far off twice the figure for second-placed Germany (2,682,654). Nationals of the EU’s 27 member states together received 15,071,067 ETAs, or 60.1% of all ETAs issued in the period; adding the EEA states and Switzerland lifts the European share to roughly two-thirds (64%), in line with the Home Office’s own commentary. Refusal rates are low for every major nationality, but not uniform: Romanian applicants faced a 1.06% refusal rate — roughly ten times the scheme-wide average of 0.10% — while Germany, France, Canada and Switzerland all sat at or below 0.06%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
#<\/th>\nNationality<\/th>\nETAs issued<\/th>\nRefused<\/th>\nRejected<\/th>\nRefusal rate<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
1<\/td>\nUnited States<\/td>\n4,725,142<\/td>\n4,516<\/td>\n18,915<\/td>\n0.10%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2<\/td>\nGermany<\/td>\n2,682,654<\/td>\n1,232<\/td>\n7,114<\/td>\n0.05%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3<\/td>\nFrance<\/td>\n2,327,263<\/td>\n763<\/td>\n9,215<\/td>\n0.03%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4<\/td>\nItaly<\/td>\n1,835,423<\/td>\n1,139<\/td>\n6,516<\/td>\n0.06%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5<\/td>\nSpain<\/td>\n1,709,697<\/td>\n1,116<\/td>\n3,775<\/td>\n0.07%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
6<\/td>\nNetherlands<\/td>\n1,226,382<\/td>\n1,066<\/td>\n2,023<\/td>\n0.09%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
7<\/td>\nPoland<\/td>\n927,174<\/td>\n1,284<\/td>\n2,053<\/td>\n0.14%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8<\/td>\nCanada<\/td>\n838,880<\/td>\n420<\/td>\n2,696<\/td>\n0.05%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
9<\/td>\nAustralia<\/td>\n667,555<\/td>\n428<\/td>\n1,140<\/td>\n0.06%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
10<\/td>\nBelgium<\/td>\n549,765<\/td>\n514<\/td>\n2,440<\/td>\n0.09%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
11<\/td>\nSweden<\/td>\n517,578<\/td>\n1,118<\/td>\n708<\/td>\n0.22%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
12<\/td>\nSwitzerland<\/td>\n463,597<\/td>\n183<\/td>\n1,303<\/td>\n0.04%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
13<\/td>\nRomania<\/td>\n461,953<\/td>\n4,961<\/td>\n1,523<\/td>\n1.06%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
14<\/td>\nNorway<\/td>\n436,842<\/td>\n649<\/td>\n718<\/td>\n0.15%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
15<\/td>\nBrazil<\/td>\n391,152<\/td>\n796<\/td>\n1,291<\/td>\n0.20%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Top 15 nationalities by ETAs issued, year ending March 2026 (2025 Q2 – 2026 Q1). Refusal rate is per nationality: refused ÷ all decisions for that nationality. Source: ETA_D02.<\/p>\n

How many ETA applications are refused?<\/h2>\n

The Home Office reports three outcomes. An application is issued<\/strong> when the ETA is granted. It is refused<\/strong> when it is considered and turned down — there is no appeal against a refusal, and the applicant must apply for a visa instead. It is rejected<\/strong> when the application is not accepted as valid; a rejected applicant is told the reason and can simply apply again. Because rejections are recoverable, we calculate the refusal rate as refused decisions divided by all decisions, and report rejections separately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Period<\/th>\nDecisions<\/th>\nRefused<\/th>\nRefusal rate<\/th>\nRoughly<\/th>\nRejected<\/th>\nRejection rate<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
Year ending March 2026<\/td>\n25,191,070<\/td>\n25,624<\/td>\n0.10%<\/td>\n1 in 983<\/td>\n76,494<\/td>\n0.30%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Since launch (Oct 2023 – Mar 2026)<\/td>\n30,593,121<\/td>\n30,157<\/td>\n0.10%<\/td>\n1 in 1,014<\/td>\n97,159<\/td>\n0.32%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Put differently: 99.59% of all decisions in the year ending March 2026 ended with an ETA being issued. Refusals have grown in absolute terms as the scheme expanded — from a few hundred per quarter in 2024 to 7,263 in Q1 2026 — but the refusal rate<\/em> has stayed close to one in a thousand throughout.<\/p>\n

ETA scheme timeline<\/h2>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Date<\/th>\nMilestone<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n
October–November 2023<\/td>\nScheme launches; nationals of Qatar are the first to need an ETA<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
February 2024<\/td>\nExtended to Bahrain, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
8 January 2025<\/td>\nMandatory for all remaining non-European visa-free nationalities, including the US, Canada and Australia<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
5 March 2025<\/td>\nApplications open for European nationalities<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2 April 2025<\/td>\nMandatory for European visitors — the scheme’s final rollout stage<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3 July 2026<\/td>\nAn ETA costs £20, permits multiple visits of up to six months, and is valid for two years or until the passport expires (GOV.UK)<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Methodology and definitions<\/h2>\n