Foreign nationals accounted for a quarter of sexual assault convictions on women last year, figures reveal
18 June 2025, 10:47
A quarter of offenders convicted for sexual assaults on women in the UK last year were foreign nationals, figures have revealed.
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Data from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ), obtained by the the Centre for Migration Control think tank under freedom of information laws, has revealed that 26% of 1,453 sex assault convictions on women last year were foreign nationals.
Indian nationals accounted for the highest number in foreign national convictions in 2024, with 38.
Romanians nationals were second with 27 assault, joint with Polish nationals also on 27.
Pakistani nationals accounted for 20 sexual assault conviction while 19 Afghan nationals were convicted.
While accounting for 26% of sexual assault convictions last year, foreign nationals make up 10.9% of the population.
More than a fifth of all rape convictions last year were also foreign nationals.
They made up 155 of the 720 convictions for “rape of a female aged 16 or over”, with a further 42 convictions being an “unknown” nationality.
And 523 cases were linked to individuals whose nationality were listed as either “United Kingdom”, “England”, “Scotland” or “Wales” (72.6%).
Read more: MP pleads not guilty to sexual assault at London's Groucho club
Pakistani, Nigerian and Romanian nationals were responsible for 10 rape convictions each - the joint highest.
Sudanese nationals made up nine convictions, while eight Afghan nationals and seven Indian nationals followed.
Last year, there was a total of 7,874 sexual offence convictions. 1,118, of these, or one in seven, involved known foreign nationals.
A further 614 were classed as “unknown” with regard to their nationalities. The majority were by people who declared themselves to be UK nationals.
A government spokesman said: “We have already taken action to ban foreign nationals who groom children or commit sexual offences from being granted asylum, and will do everything in our power to pursue deportation from the UK.
“More than 800 cases involving grooming and child sexual exploitation allegations have also been identified for formal review, so that these vile criminals are off our streets and paying the price for crimes.”
The figures come after a review child sex abuse by grooming gangs by Baroness Louise Casey found suspects were often “disproportionately likely” to be Asian men.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper unveiled the findings from the rapid national audit to MPs, after the Prime Minister committed to launching a national inquiry into the abuse.
She had promised that collecting ethnicity and nationality data in child sex abuse cases will become a formal requirement, pledging to tighten rape laws following the report.
The Casey report said: "Questions about ethnicity have been asked but dodged for years.
"Child sexual exploitation is horrendous whoever commits it, but there have been enough convictions across the country of groups of men from Asian ethnic backgrounds to have warranted closer examination."
However, Casey insisted the data was “not sufficient” to draw conclusions at a “national level.”
Ms Cooper said the overrepresentation was found when Baroness Casey examined local level data into three police force areas, Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire and South Yorkshire, and in serious case reviews.
The government “unequivocally” apologised for failings which led to grooming and child sexual abuse
.Closing her statement to the Commons on the Casey Report, Ms Cooper said she had apologised while shadow home secretary in 2022 when Dame Alexis Jay’s report was published.
Ms Cooper told MPs: “On behalf of this, and past governments, and the many public authorities who let you down, I want to reiterate an unequivocal apology for the unimaginable pain and suffering that you have suffered, and the failure of our country’s institutions through decades, to prevent that harm and keep you safe."
Writing for LBC Opinion, Nick Ferrari argued that there is "deeply uncomfortable truth at the heart of the grooming gang scandal".
He wrote that "while we must be precise and cautious in how we discuss it, we cannot shy away from it any longer."
"There is something—something in the criminal intent of these men—that, when traced back, appears repeatedly to involve men of Pakistani heritage.
"That is not a racist observation. It is a fact, supported by evidence and acknowledged even now in official audits."
