UK population growth hit record low, ONS data suggests
The UK population grew by just 0.5 per cent from 2019 to June last year, in what would be one of the smallest increases on record.
Preliminary analysis by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) suggested that the population grew by 316,000 people, to 67.1m in total.
“There is significant interest in what impact the pandemic has had on the number of people living and working in the UK,” director of public policy analysis and co-lead for Covid-19 analysis at the ONS, Liz McKeown, said.
The data, based on the previous census and adapted to take account of the numbers of births, deaths, and migration, signals the interest in the UK population post-pandemic and Brexit.
The estimates also provide insight into the impacts of international migration on the population, particularly in the absence of data from the International Passenger Survey (IPS), which was suspended in March 2020.
“Net migration, largely driven by non-EU arrivals but also some British citizens coming home before the pandemic fully hit the UK, was higher than the historical average up to March 2020,” McKeown added.
With expectations of a lockdown baby boom, the final births data from July to December 2020 were not yet available, as the majority of births towards the end of the year would have been conceived prior to the pandemic.
“It’s important to remember that these are early population indicators based on new methods,” McKeown advised. “There is uncertainty and they will likely be subject to revision in the coming months, especially as more data becomes available.”