ISSUES
: Our Changing Population
Chapter 1: Population in the UK
5
Overview of the UK population
November 2015 release.
How many people are there
in the UK and how does this
change over time?
The UK population grew to an
estimated 64.6 million in 2014, its
highest ever value. This represents
an increase of almost half a million
people from 2013 according to the
most recent population estimates.
Please note that the population
statistics used in this story are mid-
year estimates unless otherwise
stated.
Population projections are also
available which show how the
population would change in future
years if recent demographic trends
were to continue.
UK population estimates and
annual growth rates, 1960s to
2020s
Following the relatively high growth
in the UK population during the
1960s (the annual growth rate
was 0.61% of the UK population),
a result of the 1960s’ baby boom,
population growth slowed during
the 1970s and the UK population
actually fell between 1975 and
1978. In the 1980s, the UK
population grew again (with the
exception of 1982 when it fell by
0.12%, its biggest fall since 1951)
reaching annual growth of between
0.2% and 0.3% in the latter half of
the decade when the 1960s’ baby
boomers were having children. The
1990s had a stable level of growth,
similar to that of the late 1980s.
The annual growth for the UK
population more than doubled
during the 2000s, from 0.34% in
2000 to 0.71% in 2009; the annual
growth rate for the decade more
than doubled as well, up from
0.28% in the 1990s to 0.64% in
the 2000s. Uplifts in population
growth have generally coincided
with an increase in the number of
countries holding EU membership.
Growth in the UK population since
2010 has been similar to that of the
late 2000s and while it is projected
to be the decade with the biggest
period of growth in the last 50
years, UK population growth is
then projected to slow steadily,
with the long-term annual growth
rate projected to stabilise at around
0.3% of the UK population.
How does the UK population
compare with other
countries?
The UK population is one of the
largest in the European Union.
Population Estimates and Annual
Growth for Selected EU and non-
EU Countries, 2013–2014
The UK population had the third
largest population in the EU in
2014: 16.4 million fewer people
than Germany and 1.5 million fewer
people than France in 2014. The UK
had 3.6 million people more than
Italy which was the country with
the fourth highest population in
the EU in 2014. Outside of the EU,
Russia had the highest European
population, with 143.7 million
people in 2014, almost twice the
population of Germany. Turkey
had the third highest European
population, with 76.7 million people
in 2014, 12.3 million more people
than lived in the UK.
Between 2013 and 2014, the UK
population grew faster than that
of the EU as a whole: 0.7% growth
for the UK population compared
with 0.35% growth for the EU. The
growth rate for the population of
the UK was more than twice that
of Ireland, the population for which
grew by 0.31% between 2013 and
2014.
Of the 28 countries in the EU,
there were four countries where
the population grew faster than
the UK between 2013 and 2014:
Luxembourg, Italy, Malta and
Sweden.
There were 13 EU countries where
the population shrank between
2013 and 2014; these countries
included
Poland,
Bulgaria,
Hungary, Romania, Spain, Portugal
and Greece.
What caused the UK
population to change?
There are four ways that the UK
population changes: people are
born, they die, they move in or they
move out.
Natural change
Natural change is the number of
births minus the number of deaths.
Natural change has resulted in
increases in the population in
every year over the last decade, by
around 200,000 people per year on
average over the previous decade
and in 2014 it increased the UK
population by more than 200,000
people.
The number of births per year in
the UK was high (above 850,000)
from the mid-1950s up until the
early 1970s: the 1960s’ baby boom.
The number of births fell markedly
during the 1970s, before rising
again in the 1980s and early 1990s,
when the 1960s’ baby boomers
were likely to have children. The
number of births peaked again in
2012 when the number of births
in the UK was at its highest for 40
years: 813,000 in 2012 compared
with 834,000 in 1972.
The number of deaths was more
stable than the number of births.
From 1953 the number of deaths
rose to a peak in 1976 (680,800):
when the highest number of deaths
since 1918 (715,200) was recorded;
and then fell away. The number of
UK recorded deaths fell faster in
the 2000s than in the previous two
decades, falling below 600,000 for
the first time since the 1950s, in
2004. Since 2004, the number of
UK recorded deaths has remained
below 600,000 because people are
living longer.
Net migration
Net migration is the number of
immigrants minus the number
of emigrants. The growth of the
UK population since the 1990s
has been attributed primarily to
the growth of net migration. Net
