British Prime Minister promises 'the biggest reimagining' of the NHS since it was founded 76 years ago
world14 hours ago
Record immigration caused the population of England and Wales to rise by 610,000 to 60.9 million in mid-2023, the largest annual increase in 75 years, official data showed on Monday.
What statisticians term 'natural' population growth — the difference between births and deaths — fell to just 400, the lowest since 1978, while net international migration rose to 622,000, up from 548,500 in the previous 12 months.
A net 13,800 people also moved from England and Wales to Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Britain's Office for National Statistics said the population increase in England and Wales was the largest since 1948, when a post-World War Two baby boom and the return of British military personnel serving overseas caused a rise of 1.5 million.
The population for the whole United Kingdom was 67.6 million in mid 2022. Data for 2023 is not yet available.
Economic output has not kept up with the rising population. Based on provisional population figures, gross domestic product per head in 2023 was 0.7 per cent lower than a year earlier.
Net migration to the United Kingdom hit a record 764,000 in 2022 and fell 10 per cent to 685,000 in 2023, but is more than double its level in 2015, just before the Brexit referendum.
Reducing immigration was a key goal of many Britons who voted to leave the European Union.
Britain's previous Conservative government said it wanted to reduce net immigration, and Prime Minister Keir Starmer's Labour Party pledged in the election campaign to do so too by making the economy less reliant on foreign workers.
Post-Brexit changes to visas sharply reduced the number of EU migrants to Britain, but new work visa rules led to a surge in immigration from India, Nigeria and Pakistan, often to fill health and social care vacancies.
At the end of last year the government tightened rules to stop low-paid social care workers from bringing dependents.
British Prime Minister promises 'the biggest reimagining' of the NHS since it was founded 76 years ago
world14 hours ago
Talks have so far failed to reach a deal to end the 11-month-old war
world14 hours ago
Women take on more jobs traditionally filled by men
world15 hours ago
The Tokyo-based startup aims to follow the success of US-based Intuitive Machines, which in February made the world's first private moon landing
world15 hours ago
Mission is riskiest yet for Elon Musk's SpaceX
world15 hours ago
Wealth inequality and climate change are other issues the pope may address
world1 day ago
Biden declares federal state of emergency for Louisiana
world1 day ago
Some schools have told students to stay home for the rest of the week, while thousands of residents of low-lying areas have been evacuated
world1 day ago