Since June 2025, a claim that 250,000 white British girls have been systematically sexually exploited by organised Pakistani grooming gangs has spread widely on social media and in international media. The figure was promoted by figures including Elon Musk, British politician Rupert Lowe, and far-right activist Tommy Robinson, among others. However, iVerify Pakistan's detailed analysis of the source report reveals that the number is not based on official government or law enforcement data.
Origin of the 250,000 Figure
The claim originates from 'The Rape Gang Inquiry Report', published on June 16, 2025, by British politician Rupert Lowe in the UK parliament. Page 12 of the report states that the 250,000 figure is not a government estimate or police statistic but is based on remarks by Lord Malcolm Pearson during House of Lords debates. The report itself acknowledges that no comprehensive national total exists and that the figure is not intended as a precise count.
What Official Inquiries Say
The most frequently cited local inquiry is the 2014 Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Exploitation in Rotherham, led by Professor Alexis Jay, which estimated approximately 1,400 children were exploited in Rotherham between 1997 and 2013. However, this inquiry did not provide a gender-specific breakdown, and applying its results nationally assumes comparable conditions across regions.
The national Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse (IICSA), published in 2022 and also chaired by Prof Jay, concluded that it is not possible to determine the full scale of child sexual exploitation by organised networks at a national level. The inquiry noted that criminal justice records do not capture all cases and that available datasets are incomplete. It stated: “Offence codes: Police data collection and reporting is generally driven by type of offence but there is no specific offence of child sexual exploitation. ... In 2018/19, offenders were charged with 1,012 offences within this group. In 2019/20, this rose to 1,363. However, these categories do not include more serious crimes such as rape.”
Gap Between Claim and Evidence
The real number of children sexually exploited by organised grooming gangs in the UK remains unknown, as admitted by the country's own national inquiry. The 250,000 figure has travelled far and fast on social media, but it does not come from government data, law enforcement records, or any verified national count. Instead, it traces back to extrapolations built on localised estimates, underreporting assumptions, and public remarks. This explainer was originally published by iVerify Pakistan — a project of CEJ-IBA and UNDP.
