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U.K. population to pass 70 million by early 2030s, study says

By Clyde Hughes
The U.K. population will rise to more than 72 million by 2043, the analysis said. File Photo by Rune Hellestad/UPI
The U.K. population will rise to more than 72 million by 2043, the analysis said. File Photo by Rune Hellestad/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The population of the United Kingdom will surpass 70 million at the start of the 2030s, a new analysis said Monday -- indicating a slower growth than experts previously anticipated.

The Office of National Statistics said in the study there will be 70 million U.K. residents by 2031. In 2016, the government office projected 30,000 fewer. By 2043, the figure is projected to rise to 72.4 million.

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The population, tallied last year, was 66.4 million.

The report said Great Britain's population will rise by 5 percent over the next decade, Northern Ireland's by 3.7 percent, Scotland's by 1.8 percent and Wales' by 0.6 percent.

Twenty-seven percent of the growth will result more from births than deaths, the ONS said, and net migration is expected to fall over the next 12 years.

"Although migration declines at first and the number of births is stable, the number of deaths is projected to grow as those born in the baby boom after World War II reach older ages," ONS officer Andrew Nash said.

"The population is increasingly aging and this trend will continue. However, because of the expected rise in the state pension age to 67, it is projected that slightly fewer than one in five people will be of pensionable age in 2028, a similar proportion to today."

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