Over Half of England and Wales Population Growth Due to Immigration, Census Reveals

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Peter Caddle

Nearly 60 per cent of the population growth of England and Wales over the past decade is a result of immigration, official census data has revealed.

A considerable majority of the population growth in England and Wales is down to substantial inward migration into the two countries, official census data has revealed.

The migrant-fueled population growth in the two UK nations is not an isolated instance, with other countries across Europe seeing their populations soar as a result of legal and illegal immigration.

According to census figures released by the UK’s Office for National Statistics on Wednesday, the usual resident population of England and Wales grew by 3.5 million, or 6.3 per cent in ten years. The figures represent a snapshot of the nation as it was in March 2021, and then in 2011.

Using data on the number of births and deaths, the government statistical agency estimates that 57.5 per cent of this population growth is down to inward migration.

“Monthly data show that from April 2011 until the end of March 2021 there were 6.8 million live births and 5.3 million deaths registered in England and Wales,” a press release on the figures reads.

“This represents a natural increase of approximately 1.5 million usual residents (42.5% of the total population increase),” it continues. “The remainder of the population growth (approximately 2.0 million usual residents, 57.5% of total population increase) is because of positive net migration (the difference between those who immigrated into and emigrated out of England and Wales).”

In all, on Census day, there were 59,597,542 people recorded as being ‘usually resident’ in England and Wales, although of course this does not count people who broke the law by avoiding filling in a census form. This was up 6.3 per cent from the previous 2011 census, when the figure was recorded as 56,075,912.

While the census figures show a considerable change to the makeup of the people of Britain in just a decade, England and Wales are far from alone in the European context in having their population growth determined by migration more than other factors.

For example, this year neighboring Ireland saw its highest level of population growth in 15 years, with the surge being attributed to a surge in inward immigration. According to Ireland’s Office for National Statistics, over 120,000 people arrived in Ireland in the twelve months preceding April this year, with non-Irish nationals now making up over 13 per cent of the population.

Meanwhile, Germany’s population also hit a record high earlier this year, despite the fact that the number of young people in the country is now at an all time low, with just one in ten people in the country aged between 15-25.

According to the country’s national statistics organisation Destatis, this growth is almost entirely down to a surge in immigration, and at the moment much of that is from Ukraine.

One in four people in the country are now described as being from a “migrant backgroud“, in that they are either from a foreign country or have one parent originating from outside the German state.

In Sweden, almost three-quarters of population growth is down to immigration, the government says, with one-fifth of the whole country now foreign-born, as of 2019.

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