Immigration Raises Population in the UK by a Record One Percent – ONS

Until mid-2023, the population is expected to have increased by 1,281,700 in just two years.

Official figures released on Tuesday revealed that immigration was the main factor in the UK’s population growth, which increased by 1.2 million over a two-year period and by a record 1% in the year to mid-2023.

According to data from the UK’s statistical agency, the Office for National Statistics (ONS), there were a projected 68.3 million people living in the UK in mid-2023, representing an annual increase of 662,400 or 1.0 percent.

This is the biggest yearly percentage and numerical increase since similar data started in 1971, and it coincides with political pressure on the UK government over housing and service delivery, as well as immigration levels.

As a result of anti-immigrant groups, the country has seen its worst rioting in ten years, which the new Labour government has already had to deal with.

“The primary driver of population growth in all four UK countries up until mid-2023 was net international migration,” according to the ONS.

According to the statistics office, 1,185,600 persons left the UK in the year up to mid-2023, accounting for 508,300 of the net foreign migration.

During the same time period, there were about 16,300 more deaths than births. This is the first time since 1976 that the UK population has naturally changed negatively, excluding Covid-hit 2020.

The population is predicted to have increased by 1,281,700 in the two years leading up to mid-2023, surpassing the population of Birmingham, the second-largest city in the UK.