The United Kingdom’s population has recently seen one of its largest-ever annual increases, driven almost entirely by international migration, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The ONS estimates that the UK population reached a record 69.3 million people by mid-2024, an increase of over three-quarters of a million people in just one year.
This surge is the second-largest annual jump recorded in the past 75 years, second only to the previous year’s rise.
The significant population increase was overwhelmingly due to net international migration - the difference between the number of people moving into the country (immigrating) and those leaving (emigrating).
Net migration accounted for approximately 98% of the total population increase.
The remaining growth came from “natural change” (birth minus deaths), which only added about 16,000 people to the population. The number of births was the lowest in at least 42 years.
Nigel Henretty, an official from the ONS, confirmed the long-term trend: “The UK population has increased each year since mid-1982.”
“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.”
The UK population is expected to pass 70 million by mid-2026.
Official projections suggest that the net migration is likely to remain the sole reason the population increases over the next decade, as the number of deaths is projected to begin slightly exceeding the number of births by around 2030.
Without migration, the population would start to decline