Population slowing

THE UK population may have grown by just 0.5% in the year to mid-2020 – the lowest annual increase since the year to mid-2003.

Early indications suggest the overall size of the population in mid-2020 stood at 67.1 million, up by 316,000 on the official estimate for mid-2019, according to preliminary data from the Office for National Statistics. A 0.5% annual increase in population would likely reflect a higher number of deaths and a continued fall in the number of births.