00:02:37
ITN
Population set to hit 70m by 2031
Population set to hit 70m by 2031
Britain's population is set to exceed 70 million by 2031, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).Researchers said if past trends continue, the population will increase from about 60 million in 2006 to 65 million in 2016 and pass 70 million in 2028.A range of factors, including immigration, fertility and average lifespans, have been used to come up with the figures.They are the first to use data on immigration which was recently released by the ONS.Last month the organisation said the number of people migrating to the UK had increased by 45,000 a year to 190,000.England will grow the fastest with an increase of 8 per cent by 2016, compared to 7 per cent in Northern Ireland, 5 per cent in Wales and just 3 per cent in Scotland, the ONS said.Officials said long-term assumptions of future fertility, life expectancy and migration are all higher than those made in the previous projections.Researchers have increased their migration estimates from a net increase of 145,000 or more per year in 2004 to 190,000 or more each year.They also believe almost half of the 4.4 million population increase in the UK over the next decade will be fuelled by migration.Researchers said that this year, for the first time ever, the population of people claiming state pensions will exceed the number of children.By 2016, there will be 400,000 more people claiming state pensions than children, rising to more than two million in 2031.In 2006 there were 3.3 people of working age for every person on a pension, but this ratio will slowly decline.© Independent Television News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.
ITN | October 23, 2007
