UK population reached 61.4 million by 2008 and has been growing by more than 400,000 a year. Our numbers have grown by more than a fifth since 1950 - in less than a lifetime, in one of the most densely populated countries in the world. At the recent growth rate of 0.6% a year, population would reach 100 million before the end of this century, passing 200 million soon after 2200. ONS projections published in 2008 exceeded the previous four projections. On 23 October 2007 2006-based population projections released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed expected population growth of nearly 17 million (more than two Londons) to 77.2 million in 2050, and on 19 November 2008 migration figures for 2007 revealed a near record net inward flow of 237,000 people, pushing up population growth to a staggering 434,554. Although a third* of the public believe population growth to be the most serious threat to the future wellbeing of Britain, no political party has a clear policy to reverse it. Act now. Call for an population policy - stabilisation and gradual decrease by 2050. See Fertility, Migration, OPT Policies, OPT Population policy projections and Briefings and Submissions for population policy alternatives.

FOOTNOTES

Annual population growth = natural increase (births minus deaths) + net migration, and migration also affects the number of births. Increasing life expectancy affects the number of deaths each year and later child-bearing and childlessness affect the number of births - these subcomponents are discussed on other sections of this website. ONS statistics are frequently retrospectively revised.

*Ipsos-Mori poll, August 2006

Retrospective revisions: UK population figures are often revised retrospectively over a period of several years - for example, those for mid-1995 to mid-2003 were 'smoothed' following the April 2001 Census. Population counting methods are known to have been inaccurate, and on 23 May 2008 the House of Commons Treasury Committee published its report Counting the Population, confirming flaws in official migration counting methods and suggesting ways of improving overall population counting . ONS Release of 2006 migration figures. Some figures may not correspond because of rounding or different statistical measuring methods. See also ONS Why is the UK population growing?

Sources: Natural increase (births minus deaths) from: Releases and Health Statistics Quarterly, ONS; General Register for Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (N.I. births are defined as live births to resident mothers). Other sources: Population figures from mid-1995 to mid-2003 from Table 1.6, p58, Population Trends 121, ONS, Autumn 2005. The latest (Mid-2006 based) UK Principal Population Projection was published by the Government Actuary's Department on 23 October 2007. Some births and deaths occur within the UK to people not 'usually resident' in the UK. Births have exceeded deaths in every year since 1901 except 1976. Illegal immigration cannot be fully counted. UK Population Millions 1971-1995 are taken from ONS figures, Table D6900, Population Trends 112. Census figures for the early 19th century are estimates, since registration of births in England and Wales did not begin until 1837. ¹Migration figures were revised upwards by the Office of National Statistics in June 2003. Official (November 2002) population projections by the Government Actuary's Department were based on continued net inward migration of 100,000 a year, a figure now acknowledged to be a significant underestimate. GAD's mid-2006 based principal projection (October 2007) assumes a net inward flow of 190,000. ONS Revised net immigration figures include asylum seekers but do not include illegal immigrants. For further details see Office of National Statistics. ² These (retrospectively) revised population estimates were published on 9 September 2004 (for mid-2001 and mid-2002) and 7 October 2004 (for mid-1992 to mid-2000), following the local authority population studies which followed the Census in 2001. These revisions replace all earlier versions. ⁵ Census results - the Census 1801 figure excludes Northern Ireland. The figure for 1750 is an estimate, for England and Wales only. The United Kingdom incorporates Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland) and Northern Ireland. Statistics for constituent parts of the UK are available from the Office of National Statistics.