Migration will be the only factor fuelling Britain’s population rise over the next decade, shocking figures have revealed.
Some five million additional people will be living in the UK by 2032, taking the population to 72.5 million.Statisticians predicted net migration will consistently hit 340,000 from 2028, falling from the record high of 906,000 in the year to June 2023.Almost ten million people will move to the UK over this time period, heaping more pressure on the NHS, roads, housing and schools.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “This is the biggest issue that faces our country.”Why is it the most important issue in this country? Have a think about it. Even if we build the 1.5 million homes that Labour say they’ll build, that won’t even be enough to cope with the numbers coming during the course of the next four years, let alone the backlog we have.
“You want to get a GP appointment? Forget it.”It’s going to get even more difficult. Have you noticed how clogged up the roads are? Our quality of life for all of us is diminishing directly as a result of the population explosion.
“And here’s the other thing that really matters. The steeper our population rises, through immigration, the poorer per head we get in this country.”This is a complete betrayal by our political class. And I promise you, it’s on this issue that Reform are going to win the next general election. Believe me.”
Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp said: “10 million arrivals over 10 years is far too high. We need a binding legal cap on visas issued each year which is very, very substantially lower than this in order to get the numbers down and under control.government has announced no concrete plans to actually achieve this.
“The figures also highlight the challenge of Britain’s ageing population, with pensioners the fastest growing age group.
“Even the massive levels of net migration do very little to improve the long-term picture, with the ratio of pensioners to working age taxpayers growing all the time.
“As the Centre for Policy Studies has pointed out in ‘Justice for the Young’, the Chancellor needs to focus on making the economy more productive if we are to support an older population without burdening younger workers with even more tax increases. Massive levels of net migration run contrary to this goal – putting pressure on our roads, housing, and public services which only serves to make Britain’s low productivity growth problem even worse.”
Chairman of the Migration Advisory Committee Professor Brian Bell, who predicted net migration will remain at 300,000 for the “next 10-20 years” warned Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer that his plans to reduce numbers “were not guaranteed” to deliver “large falls”.
The advisers said it was often poor pay and conditions which put off British workers.
The Migration Advisory Committee, in its annual report, revealed the influx of migrants on health and social care visas has led to more foreign workers on low pay.
Analysis shows migrants from India, Nigeria, Pakistan, China and Zimbabwe made up the top five nationalities from outside the EU.
Former Home Secretary James Cleverly banned foreign care workers and students from bringing their family members with them.
And Mr Cleverly increased the minimum salary threshold needed to secure a work visa to £38,700.
Migrants must also earn £29,000 before they can bring their partners to the UK, under the changes.
The changes were predicted to bring net migration down by 300,000.
There was a glimmer of good news as net migration fell by 20 per cent in the year to June 2024 – to 728,000.
The number of births compared to the number of deaths across the period is estimated to be almost identical – 6.8 million.
While births are projected to increase slightly, deaths are also projected to rise due to the relatively large number of people reaching older ages who were born during the so-called baby boom in the wake of the Second World War.
The number of people at state pension age – taking into account the planned rise to 67 – is projected to rise by 1.7 million between mid-2022 and mid-2032, up from an estimated 12.0 million to 13.7 million people.
By mid-2032 more than one in 10 (10.3%) of the UK population are projected to be aged 75 and over, compared with about one in 11 (9.1%) in mid-2
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