UK population rise slowest in 15 years

But it’s still up by enough to fill city the size of Coventry

THE UK’s population has grown at its slowest rate in 15 years after birth rates and immigration fell last year.

But numbers still went up by 360,000 – the equivalent of a city the size of Coventry – to reach 68 million.

The Office for National Statistics said the rate of population increase was the slowest since 2004, the year Tony Blair opened the British labour market to workers from countries in Eastern Europe.

Migration from the EU has slowed since the 2016 Brexit referendum and emigration, particularly of EU citizens, has risen, meaning net migration was 231,000 last year.

The birth rate is also at its lowest since 2005, with 722,000 babies born in the year to the end of June 2019.

An analysis of the decade since 2009 found the population had risen by 4,536,000, and the number of over-70s had risen by nearly a quarter.

The average age in the UK is now just over 40, although there are large regional variations. Neil Park, of the ONS, said yesterday: ‘ The figures we’re publishing today highlight the variation in the population across the UK.

‘For example, the population density in London is 24 times higher than that for the South

West of England. Also, the proportion of people aged 65 or over ranges from over 30 per cent in coastal areas such as north Norfolk to less than eight per cent in parts of central London like Tower Hamlets.’ The report said that at the midpoint of last year the UK population was 66,796,807 – up from 66,435,600 a year earlier.

In 1982 – the last year the population fell – it stood at 56,290,700. Last year’s population growth rate was 0.54 per cent, the lowest since Eastern European immigration began at high levels in 2004 but still double that in 1997 when Mr Blair was elected.

A key contributor was the slowing birth rate, and lower births to immigrant families, with the share of children born to mothers born abroad falling for the first time since 1990 to 28.2 per cent. The population is also ageing, the ONS found, with the number aged 65 and over increasing by 22.9 per cent to 12.4 million and the number of over-70s up by 24.7 per cent to nine million between 2009 and last year.

The average UK age is now 40.3, but is lower in cities than in rural areas.

Oxford, with its large number of students, has the lowest average age of 28.9, followed by Nottingham, Manchester and Cambridge.

The oldest populations were in north Norfolk, with an average age of 54.3, and South Hams in Devon with 51.5. Both places are seaside areas with a high number of retirees. s.doughty@dailymail.co.uk

‘Blair opened the doors’