Population in England & Wales Sees Largest Increase in 75 Years

“LONDON: Population in England & Wales Sees Largest Increase in 75 Years,Record immigration drove the population of England and Wales to a mid-2023 total of 60.9 million, marking the largest annual increase in 75 years, according to official data released on Monday (Jul 15).”

Statisticians term ‘natural’ population growth, the difference between births and deaths, fell to just 400, the lowest since 1978, while net international migration rose to 622,000, up from 548,500 in the previous 12 months.

A net 13,800 people also moved from England and Wales to Scotland or Northern Ireland.

Britain’s Office for National Statistics said the population increase in England and Wales was the largest since 1948, when a post-World War Two baby boom and the return of British military personnel serving overseas caused a rise of 1.5 million.

The population for the whole United Kingdom was 67.6 million in mid 2022. Data for 2023 is not yet available.

Economic output has not kept up with the rising population. Based on provisional population figures, gross domestic product per head in 2023 was 0.7 per cent lower than a year earlier.

Net migration to the United Kingdom hit a record 764,000 in 2022 and fell 10 per cent to 685,000 in 2023, but is more than double its level in 2015, just before the Brexit referendum.

Reducing immigration was a key goal of many Britons who voted to leave the European Union.

The previous Conservative government of Britain aimed to reduce net immigration, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party also pledged in the election campaign to achieve this by reducing the economy’s reliance on foreign workers.

Economic output has not kept up with the rising population. Based on provisional population figures, gross domestic product per head in 2023 was 0.7 per cent lower than a year earlier.

Releated Articles