In numbers: Five graphs that show how the UK population will surge by 5 million in 10 years
In numbers: Five graphs that show how the UK population will surge by 5 million in 10 years
Share:
The UK population could reach 72.5 million by mid-2032 because of net migration - here’s how. New population projection statistics from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) project that the UK will grow by 7.3 percent in the decade up to 2032. This net growth of 4.9 million people is forecast to be entirely made up of migration, with the number of deaths projected to catch up the number of births in the UK.
In fact, from 2030 onwards, the ONS forecasts that deaths will exceed births in the UK. The UK’s fertility rate is already sinking, but is projected to hit a low of 1.41 per woman over her lifetime in 2027; and stay at that rate for nearly a decade. Fertility rates in the the UK have dropped faster than any other G7 nation since 2010, plummeting by nearly 25 per cent.
Reacting to the figures, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer ruled out an “arbitrary” cap on migration, but said a plan would be put in place to end the “staggeringly high migration numbers”. So what does this mean for the UK population, in numbers and figures?.
The population is projected to pass 70 million people by 2027, and 75 million by 2042, according to ONS estimates. The projections show that we are currently in the midst of the greatest rate of population growth. Growth was set to peak at 890,000 in 2023, according to ONS projections, and is set to to subside gradually but remain above 400,000 people per year until 2028.
