Office of National Statistics projects population will reach 72.5m by mid-2032, with growth driven by migration. The UK population exceeded that of France for the first time on record, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The UK population is projected to reach 72.5 million by mid-2032, up nearly 5 million from 67.6 million in mid-2022, according to figures from the ONS.
ONS figures show the population stood at 68.3 million in mid-2023, surpassing France’s 68.2 million, a figure published by Insee, the French equivalent to the ONS. The driver of the growth over the period was migration, with natural change – the difference between births and deaths – projected to be about zero, according to the ONS.
International migration for the period is expected to be 4.9 million over the 10 years. This has been revised upwards from the previous projection of 4.5 million. The prime minister’s official spokesperson said Keir Starmer wants to bring down “staggeringly high levels” of migration but will not set “arbitrary” caps.
“We’re going to publish a white paper to set out a comprehensive plan to end these staggeringly high migration numbers,” said the spokesperson. “As the prime minister has previously said, we had a supposed cap in place before and it didn’t have any meaningful impact on reducing immigration.
