To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will list by country the (a) number and (b) proportion of applications for visitors visas that were refused in each of the last five years. [31662]

The numbers and proportions of visitors visa refused, worldwide, for the last 5 years, are as follows:

Year	Number of refusals	Percentage of applications
19971	57,612	6.1
1996	78,424	5.9
1995	72,626	6.5
1994	64,566	6.2
1993	60,183	6.5
1 Based on returns from 98 per cent. of Posts.

Migration and Visa Division of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office keep statistics giving a breakdown, by each Entry Clearance Issuing Post, of the number and proportion of visas refused at each Post. I will arrange for these to be sent to my hon. Friend.