Immigration has pushed the UK population to a record 69.3million with numbers rising by more than three–quarters of a million over 12 months.
New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the UK’s population in mid–2024 was up 755,254 (1.1 per cent) from 68.5 million in mid–2023.
This was the second largest annual numerical increase since the late 1940s and only behind the 890,049 estimated for the previous 12 months, from mid–2022 to mid–2023.
The jump was driven almost entirely by international migration, with natural change – more births than deaths – responsible for only a tiny proportion.
The latest figures mean the UK population is estimated to have grown by 1.6million between June 2022 and June 2024: the largest two–year jump since current records began.
But the rate of growth in the most recent 12–month period has not been consistent across the UK.
There was faster rate in England in the year to June 2024 (1.2 per cent) than in Scotland (0.7 per cent), Wales (0.6 per cent) or Northern Ireland (0.4 per cent).
Both Wales and Scotland saw negative natural change – more deaths than births – in this period.
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Net international migration – the difference between people moving to the country and leaving – contributed most to population growth in all four nations of the UK, the ONS said.
Some 1,235,254 people were estimated to have immigrated to the UK in the 12 months to June 2024 while 496,536 were likely to have emigrated, meaning net migration was 738,718.
This accounted for 98 per cent of the UK’s overall increase in population across this period.
In England, the local authorities with the largest percentage increase and decrease in population, City of London (11.1 per cent) and Isles of Scilly (down 2.8 per cent), have very small populations which means they have outlying results.
The next largest increases in England were for Oadby & Wigston in Leicestershire (3.1 per cent), followed by Preston in Lancashire (2.9 per cent) and Barking & Dagenham in London (2.8 per cent).
Kensington & Chelsea in London had the next largest decrease in England (down 1.4 per cent), followed by the London boroughs of Lambeth (down 0.6 per cent) and Westminster (down 0.3 per cent).
Glasgow saw the largest percentage increase in population in Scotland in the year to mid–2024 (1.8 per cent), Newport had the largest rise in Wales (1.7 per cent) and Derry City & Strabane had the largest jump in Northern Ireland (1 per cent).
The biggest drops in these three nations were Argyll & Bute (down 0.3 per cent), Isle of Anglesey (down 0.2 per cent) and Newry, Mourne & Down (down 0.2 per cent) respectively.
Nigel Henretty of the ONS said: ‘The UK population has increased each year since mid–1982.
‘Net international migration continues to be the main driver of this growth, continuing the long–term trend seen since the turn of the century.
‘The rate of population increase has been higher in recent years, and the rise seen in the year to mid–2024 represents the second largest annual increase in numerical terms in over 75 years.’
Along with new population figures for 2024, the ONS has revised its estimates for 2011 to 2023 in line with the latest available migration data.
They show the UK population grew by 4.7million in the decade from mid–2014 to mid–2024, a rise of 7.2 per cent.
This is a slightly slower rate of growth than in the preceding 10 years from 2004 to 2014, which was 7.8 per cent.
Growth has been notably higher in the 21st century than during the second half of the 20th century, however.
The UK population stood at 50.3million in 1949 and took 19 years to reach 55million (in 1968) and a further 37 years to hit 60million (2005).
It then took only 10 years to increase from 60 million to 65 million (2015).
