The population of the UK could reach 108 million within 75 years if the latest estimates for fertility, immigration and longevity are realised, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The latest projections suggest that the current UK population of 60.6 million will reach 75 million by 2031 and 108.7 million by 2081. According to the estimates much as 69 per cent of growth over the next 20 years is likely to be driven by immigration, both directly from an influx of economic migrants and indirectly by births from first-generation migrants.

‘Although these are the government’s high-variant projections, and are thus a “worst-case” scenario, they demonstrate the extent to which the UK’s population is threatening to spiral out of control,’ said David Nicholson-Lord, research associate at the Optimum Population Trust. ‘Biocapacity data suggest that the UK’s sustainable population may currently be as low as 17 million – about 30 per cent of the present official total – so the latest figures show not only how overpopulated Britain is but how badly it needs a national population policy.’

Meanwhile in China, the one-child policy apparently hasn’t been enough to quell the nation’s population growth, with the latest estimates from researchers at the People’s University in Beijing suggesting that it will pass 1.5 billion by 2033, an increase of 200 million on today’s figures.


February 2008