Population growth lowest in decade

The population of the UK has risen by its lowest rate for more than a decade, the first official population estimates since the EU referendum show.

Demographers’ latest calculations show there were an estimated 66,040,229 million people living in the country at the end of June last year.

The number of inhabitants over the 12 months to the middle of 2017 increased by 392,000 people or 0.6 per cent – the lowest growth rate since mid-2004.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the EU referendum was likely to be one of the key drivers of the changes.

The Migration Statistics Quarterly Bulletin for the period noted that: “The number of people immigrating for a definite job has remained stable, but there has been a 43 per cent decrease in the number of people immigrating to look for work over the last year, espe- cially for EU citizens. “These changes suggest that Brexit is likely to be a factor in people’s decision to move to or from the UK, but decisions to migrate are complex and other factors are also going to be influencing the figures.”

The ONS figures come in contrast to last year’s statistics when the UK saw its sharpest annual population increase since 1948 with a rise of 538,000. The slowed-down pace of immigration was described as “significant”.