England population to hit 60million in a decade... SO MUCH FOR THE BREXODUS!

England’s population will soar by more than three million over the next decade to almost 60million, official forecasts said yesterday.

The headcount in London is expected to touch almost ten million by 2026 – an increase of 775,000.

The Office for National Statistics expects most of the growth will come from migration, rather than births exceeding deaths.

And it is forecasting the boom even with a projected fall in the number of European Union migrants after Brexit.

A series of papers released by the ONS yesterday revealed that:

The migrant population in the UK hit 9.4million last year – 3 per cent up on 2016;

Romanians are the second most numerous non-British population by nationality, now numbering 411,000 and ahead of the Irish;

In five London boroughs more than half of residents are from abroad;

England’s population is expected to rise by 5.9 per cent to 58.5million by 2026, and the capital’s by 8.8 per cent to 9.5million;

Within a decade one in three towns will see

a quarter of their population made up of over-65s.

The ONS projections were calculated on the basis that over the next decade, net UK migration will average 165,000 a year – two-thirds of last year’s level of 244,000.

Only 48.7 per cent of growth, the projections say, will be caused by natural change – greater numbers of births than deaths.

Nicola White, of the ONS migration statistics division, said: ‘Non-UK born and non-British populations continued to increase in 2017 as more people continue to come to the UK to live.

‘Poland-born residents and Polish nationals were the most common populations from outside the UK, with an estimated one million Polish nationals now living in the UK.

‘However, the largest increases in population were seen from those born in Romania.’

Many of the areas with the highest immigration levels were also those that attracted the highest number of votes for Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum. The proportion of the population in Boston, Lincolnshire, that was foreign-born rose from 3 per cent in 2007 to 29 per cent in 2017.

In five London boroughs, more than half of the population is from abroad:

‘Still no sign of a net outflow’

57 per cent in Newham, 53 per cent in Brent, 53 per cent in Westminster, and 50 per cent in both Hounslow and Harrow.

Alp Mehmet, of the Migration Watch think tank, said: ‘There is still no sign of a net outflow of EU-born people as a result of Brexit. Indeed, they are still coming in significant numbers and contributing to a population increase which is simply unsustainable.’

New figures showing applications for national insurance numbers also suggested continuing high rates of immigration. Although national insurance numbers do not automatically correlate with numbers of arriving migrants, they do indicate the level of demand for work.

A national insurance number is a requirement for anyone who wants to work legally or to claim benefits in Britain. More than 670,000 were registered in the year to March 2018, 15 per cent less than the previous 12 months but in line with levels seen over the past decade.

A Home Office spokesman said: ‘We continue to welcome the contribution that EU nationals make to our economy and society. But we have been clear that we will use the opportunity provided by leaving the EU to take control of numbers of people coming to the UK from the EU.’

Brexit negotiations have so far thrown up agreement that all EU citizens and their family members living lawfully in the UK can stay and continue to live their lives broadly as now.

A further deal extends UK citizens’ rights to those people who arrive from the EU during the Brexit implementation period, which will run until December 31, 2020.

After that point a grace period will last until June 2021. During this period existing EU rules will apply. During the time-limited implementation period, the Home Office said EU citizens will be able to come to live and work as they do now.

However those who arrive here during this period and wish to stay for more than three months must register with the Home Office.

The ONS figures released yesterday do not include the latest count of levels of immigration and emigration. The key quarterly migration report has been delayed until July owing to what the ONS described as ‘a potential issue’ involving discrepancies between survey data collected on paper and that recorded on new tablet computers.

It is the second major hitch to hit the International Passenger Survey, the main tool used to measure immigration, within five years.

The estimates of the population in England, its region and local areas have been drawn by the ONS from the Annual Population Survey, which interviews around 300,000 people every year.

Despite questions over its accuracy in recent years, the survey is considered a reliable source of evidence.

Projections of future population in 2026 are calculated from annual population figures, themselves based on the 2011 national census, and estimating the impact on each area in the country of ageing, births and deaths, and of migration, both from other parts of England and from abroad.

In November 2013, shortly before restrictions on Romanian and Bulgarian migration were eased, the then immigration minister said there would be no mass influx.

Mark Harper predicted the UK would not see the number of arrivals seen when Poland and other countries joined the EU in 2004.