UK population growth 'highest in EU'

8 August 2013 Last updated at 10:16 ET

The UK's population grew by 419,900 to 63.7 million between June 2011 and June 2012, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has announced.

There were 254,400 more births than deaths and 165,600 more people coming to the UK than leaving, according to the body's latest estimates.

This amounted to the largest population growth, in absolute terms, of all EU countries, it said.

There were 813,200 UK births recorded in the year - the most since 1972.

The UK remains the third-most populous EU member state, behind Germany and France.

France's population grew by 319,100 to 65,480,500 over the same period while Germany's went up by 166,200 to 80,399,300, says the ONS.

Midwife 'shortage'

There were 517,800 migrants from overseas while 352,100 people left the country, putting net migration at 165,600.

The mid-2012 populations of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are now estimated to have been 53.5 million, 5.3 million, 3.1 million, and 1.8 million respectively.

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These are the first estimates of population change to be released since the 2011 census. Births and deaths are major drivers in these figures, but migration accounts for about a third of the growth.

There has been a lot of political debate about whether our immigration figures are good enough, but we're pretty good at counting births and dead bodies, and we saw the largest number of births in one year since 1972. We are in the midst of a real baby boom.

And people are living longer. We have 26% more men now aged over 75 in the UK than we had in 2001. There are huge questions about who are going to be the breadwinners to provide the economic growth to look after the elderly.

A full quarter of all that increase in the population happened in London. Think of the impact that is going to have on resources: on schools, and on housing.

London's population has surged by 104,000, with high birth and immigration rates.

Together London, south-east and east England accounted for 53% of growth across the UK in the year while Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland jointly accounted for 8%.

More than 51,000 people moved out of London, largely to the South East and East of England, the ONS data shows.

London recorded net international migration of 69,000 - the highest of all regions. Northern Ireland had the lowest net migration growth of about 400, the ONS said.

The capital also recorded 86,000 more births than deaths in the past year, while Scotland notched up 4,200 more births than deaths.

Royal College of Midwives chief executive Cathy Warwick said the high birth rates were putting "considerable pressures on maternity services and we are struggling to provide high quality antenatal and postnatal care".

She said: "Despite recent welcome increases in the numbers of midwives, there is still a shortage.

"England remains around 5,000 midwives short of the number required to provide mothers and babies with the high-quality service they need and deserve.

"Maternity care is the earliest health intervention of all and getting care right for mothers and babies is a vital part of supporting families and building a foundation for good health in later life.

"We need more midwives."

'One-to-one maternity care'

There were 581,800 more 0-6 year olds in the UK in mid-2012 than in mid-2001.

But because of lower birth numbers around the turn of the millennium, the number of children aged seven to 16 is 453,300 less than mid-2001.

At the other end of the population tree, the number of men aged 75 and over has increased by 26%, since mid-2001, compared to a 6% increase for women.

In January, Health Minister Dr Dan Poulter said there had been a "historical shortage" of midwives.

But he added: "The number of midwives is increasing faster than the birth rate.

"Most women already have choice and one-to-one maternity care, and we are working closely with the Royal College of Midwives to ensure that personalised, one-to-one maternity care is available for every woman across the country."

Country	Mid-2011	Mid-2012	Increase	% change
Note: Some totals may not add up due to rounding. Source: ONS
United Kingdom	63.3m	63.7m	419,900	0.7
France	65.2m	65.5m	319,100	0.5
Germany	80.2m	80.4m	166,200	0.2
Belgium	11.0m	11.1m	91,400	0.8
Sweden	9.4m	9.5m	70,200	0.7
Netherlands	16.7m	16.8m	61,900	0.4
Austria	8.4m	8.5m	42,100	0.5
Finland	5.4m	5.4m	25,700	0.5
Denmark	5.6m	5.6m	21,000	0.4
Czech Republic	10.5m	10.5m	14,700	0.1

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