Population grows at its fastest in 70 years after record migration

THE UK population has seen its sharpest increase in 70 years, driven by record levels of migration, official figures show.

Britain has experienced a population increase of five million people in just over a decade, between 2005 and 2016. The previous five million took 35 years to achieve, between 1970 and 2005.

Figures released by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) yesterday showed that the population increased by 538,000 during the year to June 2016, the largest increase since 1947.

Following years of growth the population of the UK is now 65,648,000, the highest level ever recorded.

The ONS said that high levels of immigration had contributed to the statistics. It said: “Net international migration remains the largest component of population change. Overall, natural change accounted for 35.8 per cent of the population change, net international migration for 62.4 per cent and other changes 1.8 per cent.”

It added that “net migration remained around record levels, but it was stable compared with recent years”.

Net migration reached 332,300 in 2015, the highest level recorded since 1991. During the year 299,200 people left the country and 631,500 arrived.

It has been growing since the early Nineties, when there was a brief period in which more people left the country than arrived, in 1992 and 1993.

A rise in births and decrease in deaths also contributed to the data.

Deaths fell by 2.6 per cent, which was partly because the most common strain of flu over the winter of 2015-16 affected young people more than older people. This meant that winter mortality decreased compared with the winter of 2014-15.

Alistair Currie, head of campaigns at Population Matters, a charity which campaigns about the impact of high population levels, said: “These figures for the year up to June 2016 reflect the situation as it has been for many years now, with net migration being the highest driver of population growth.”

He added: “More people means more pressure on everything, from food to housing and from buses to butterflies.”

Most local authorities saw rises in population, and of the 26 which experienced falls, 17 were in coastal areas.

Growth was focused on England and in particular London, where population levels increased by 1.3 per cent. This is driven by working-age people coming from abroad, but also by a higher birth rate because of the large number of young people.

Statisticians also said the population continued to age, though at a slower rate than in recent years, because most “baby boomers” have now turned 65.