Immigration has fuelled the largest rise to the population of England and Wales in 75 years, according to official statistics released on Monday.
Statistics show that around 1,084,000 people immigrated to England and Wales in the year to mid 2023 and 462,000 emigrated making the total net international migration 622,000.
In the same time period, net internal moves out of England and Wales to the rest of the UK totalled 13,800.
The population for the entire UK was 67.6 million in mid-2022, but data for 2023 are currently not available.
The ONS said: “Long-term international immigration for England and Wales in the year to mid-2023 was estimated to be 1,084,000, an increase of 98,000 compared with the year to mid-2022.
“International emigration was also higher for mid-2023, at 462,000. Net international migration was 622,000 in the year to mid-2023. This was 73,000 higher than for mid-2022.”
Economic output has apparently not kept pace with the rising population, with provisional figures showing GDP per head in 2023 0.7 percent lower than 2022.
Net migration to the UK hit a record 764,000 in 2022 and fell 10 percent to 685,000 in 2023, but is more than double its level in 2015, just before the Brexit referendum.
Areas with the highest rates of population growth from mid-2022 to mid-2023 were the City of London (17.5 percent), Cardiff (3.4 percent), and Preston (3.0 percent).
Deaths Outnumber Births by 400
The so called “natural change” in the population, or the difference between births and deaths, was only 400 in the year to mid-2023, which is the lowest since 1978.There were an estimated 598,000 deaths in England and Wales in the year to mid-2023, an increase of 24,000 compared with mid-2022.
The number of births in the year to mid-2023 was 598,400, a decrease of 21,900 compared with the year to mid-2022.
The amount of deaths outnumbered births in the period in 58 percent of local authorities across the two countries.
Ten years ago, in the year to mid-2013, just 26 percent of local authorities found themselves in the same position.
The largest increases in deaths were in coastal and less urban areas such as Rutland, which saw an increase of 21.7 percent, and North Devon at 17.9 percent.
Neil Park, head of population estimates for the ONS, said: “High levels of international migration seen in recent years are the main driver of population growth.
“But the year to mid-2023 also saw an increased number of deaths, as well as the lowest number of births since 2002.
“In fact, in the most recent year, births outnumbered deaths by just 400, the lowest reported figure for natural change since the late 1970s. And, interestingly, there were more deaths than births in every region, with the exception of London and the West Midlands.”
The last time population growth was as high was the year to mid-1948, 75 years before mid-2023.
In that period, the population estimate for England and Wales increased by 1.5 million because of the return of soldiers following the end of the Second World War in addition to the high number of births.
National Records of Scotland statistics show that in the year to June 2022, net migration to the country was 48,800, compared with 22,200 the previous year.
A total of 36,300 more people moved to Scotland from outside the UK than left during 2021–2022, compared with 13,300 the previous year.
