ISSUES
: Our Changing Population
Chapter 1: Population in the UK
7
Britain’s population fastest-growing in
the EU
The UK has experienced the largest population growth in all of the EU, according to
a new report.
By Zairah Khurshid
B
ritain’s population has grown by 6.4 people
per 1,000 in the last year to a total 64.8 million
people, a report by European Union’s statistics
agency, Eurostat.Migration is the main factor as to
why Britain’s population has grown the fastest than
any other major European country in the last year.
Germany and France are the only two EU countries
with bigger populations than the UK’s, but they had
lower growth rates at five and 4.5 per 1,000.
Luxembourg experienced the largest rise (23.9 people
per 1,000), though smaller populations are skewed by
sudden surges in arrivals, and recorded larger changes
in the rate of population rise. Countries suffering severe
economic problems saw their populations fall. Greece,
which lost more than eight people in every 1,000 person,
and Spain, which lost 1.6 per 1,000 people.
Eurostat said that the population of the EU has risen
to 508.2 million at the end of last year, from 507
million from 2013.
They also report
that 80% of this
increase
was
due to people
migrating
to
the
continent,
whereas
20%
was
due
to
natural
growth
(the
difference
between
births
and deaths).
Britain accepted
more asylum seekers last year than 17 other EU
countries put together, reported by Eurostat in May.
Britain granted asylum protection to 14,065 people in
2014, while other large European states accepted just
a few hundred each.
Eritrea, Pakistan, Syria, Iran and Albania were the top
countries to apply for asylum in the UK.
Germany remains themost populated EU state, housing
16% of the total EU population. France comes second
(13.1%), followed by the UK (12.9%), Italy
(12%), Spain (9.1%) and Poland (7.5%).
The Government reports that 159
competitors, spectators or visitors
that came to the London Olympics in
2012 and the Commonwealth Games
in Glasgow last year have claimed
asylum.
Philip Davies, the Conservative MP
who obtained the figures in parliament,
told
The Daily Telegraph
: “I am very
concerned that we are being treated
as a soft touch when it comes to
asylum.”
11 July 2015
Ö
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The impact of migration on
population growth
More than half (54%) of the increase of the UK population
between 1991 and 2012 was due to the direct contribution of
net migration.
The total net inflow of post-2012 migrants accounts for 43% of
total population growth until 2037.
The contribution of net migration to population change differs
across the four UK constituent nations. Without net immigration,
Scotland’s population would stagnate over the next two decades
and decrease in the longer term.
Net migration assumptions have been continually revised in
the projections released since the mid-1990s, reflecting rising
levels of net migration and the high uncertainty of migration
forecasting.
The reduction in net migration levels in the latest projections
does not result in significant slowdown of future population
growth from increase of fertility and life expectancy.
Source: The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford
“Britain’s population has grown by
6.4 people per 1,000 in the last year
to a total 64.8 million people”
