UK population

Main article: UK

Population

2024: Population Growth Forecast by Immigrants to 70M by 2026

In January 2024, the UK announced that immigration would lead to a population growth of 9.9% (6.6 million people) by 2036.

2022:66 million people

2020: 18.8% population growth over 30 years

Fertility and mortality

Main article: Births and deaths in the UK

Age

2021: 26.7% of Saint Helena's population over 65

2018: Proportion of the population under 14 years of age

Male-to-female ratio

Dating

2021:20% of adults out of wedlock used dating sites

Marriages and divorces

2017: Divorce rate - 41.2%

Number of children per woman

in

Children out of wedlock

2018

2005-2014

Parents and children

Migration

2024

Net migration to Britain remains above 700,000 people a year

Net migration to Britain began to decline in 2024, but remains at a very high level.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer promises to reduce net migration. He claimed the blame lay with the Tories, whose 14-year tenure in power ended with Starmer's Labour winning the general election in July.

Deterioration of conditions for assistance to more than 200 thousand refugees from Ukraine

In February 2024, the British authorities imposed restrictions on the current assistance programs for Ukrainian refugees:

The scheme "House for Ukrainians" will work according to the new rules. If anyone living in Britain for more than six months could become a previously inviting person, now the opportunity is available only to those who have a permanent residence permit, British or Irish citizenship.

At the same time, permission to stay in the country will be issued for 1.5 years instead of 3 years.

The "Family Programme," which allows resettlers to join their relatives living in Britain, stops altogether.

2023

Britain's population has risen at a record since 1971 at the expense of migrants

As of mid-2023, the population of Britain was 68.3 million people. This is 1% more than the result of a year ago. The main factor in the increase in the number of inhabitants of the country is net international migration. This is stated in a study by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the results of which were published on October 8, 2024.

The report says that from June 2022 to June 2023, immigration to Britain amounted to 1.185 million people, and emigration from the country - about 508 thousand people. Thus, given the natural decline, due to net migration, the population increased by 662.4 thousand people. This marked a record annual numerical and percentage increase since 1971.

London

While changes to the post-Brexit visa regime have seen a sharp decline in the number of migrants to Britain from the European Union, new work visa rules have triggered a surge in immigration from India, Nigeria and Pakistan. Citizens of these countries, as noted by Reuters, often arrive for employment in the fields of health and social security. Britain has seen high levels of immigration at the expense of economic migrants and those arriving illegally in small boats.

During the year (until mid-2023), the population grew faster in England and Wales (plus 1% in both regions) than in Scotland (plus 0.8%) and Northern Ireland (plus 0.5%). In Britain as a whole, the number of deaths during this period exceeded the number of births by 16,300 people. At the same time, in the administrative regions of England and Northern Ireland, the number of births exceeded the number of deaths by 9900 and 2500 people, respectively. However, in Scotland and Wales, the number of deaths exceeded the number of births by 19,100 and 9500 people, respectively.^[1]

The number of migrants arriving per year is more than 1% of the country's population

Reducing the number of boats carrying illegal migrants

According to Downing Street figures available at the end of December, 37,556 migrant boats have arrived in the country since early 2023, compared with 44,490 in the same period last year.

Court ruled illegal deportation of refugees to Rwanda

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak's controversial policy of deporting refugees from Britain to Rwanda has been ruled illegal by the country's highest court, putting an end to a central plan to deal with small boats arriving through the canal.

In July 2024, the new government completely abandoned plans to expel illegal migrants to Rwanda.

Migrants may be given GPS bracelets to track their location

At the end of August 2023, it became known that the British authorities plan to issue special electronic GPS trackers to illegal migrants. It is assumed that such bracelets will allow tracking the movements of persons who arrived in the country in real time.

The aim of the initiative is to reduce the cost of keeping migrants in accommodation facilities while their asylum applications are being considered. The fact is that in Britain there is an acute shortage of places in the areas of stay. At the same time, in the country as of August 2023, more than 175 thousand people are waiting for a response from the government to the submitted asylum applications.

Against the background of an increase in the level of migration, Britain's spending on the maintenance of illegal immigrants is also increasing: the corresponding costs are estimated at £4 billion (approximately $5 billion at the exchange rate as of August 28, 2023) per year. In particular, accommodation of more than 50 thousand illegal migrants in hotels costs £6 million (approximately $7.5 million) per day.

It is reported that any attempt to remove the GPS bracelet and hide will automatically lead to the cancellation of the right to stay in the country. At the same time, concerns are expressed that this project will result in high costs. In addition, there may be a shortage of trackers themselves, which will not allow them to provide all visitors with them. In three years (by the middle of 2023), the number of illegal immigrants who crossed the English Channel increased by almost 500%, and since the beginning of 2023 alone it has amounted to approximately 19 thousand people. According to statistics, the number of people who have applied for asylum in Britain and have been awaiting a decision for more than six months was 139,961 at the end of June 2023. This is a 57% increase from the previous year's figure of 89,231 and is a new record.^[2]

Record wave of immigrant arrivals

2022

Net increase in migrants to Britain updated the record - because of Ukrainians

In 2022, the net increase in migrants to Britain reached approximately 745 thousand people, which is a new record. At the same time, the indicator for the year ending in June 2023 amounted to about 672 thousand, compared with 607 thousand for the previous annual period. Such figures are given in a report by the Bureau of National Statistics of Britain (ONS), published on November 23, 2023.

It is noted that before the COVID-19 pandemic, migration was relatively stable, but since then its model has changed significantly. Net migration has skyrocketed since 2021 as the number of visitors from non-European Union countries has risen. The situation is explained by several factors: this is an increase in the number of arrivals on humanitarian routes (in particular, from Ukraine), as well as an increase in the flow of students and workers.

The report says that during the annual period ending in June 2023, there were approximately 1.2 million long-term immigrants in Britain, of which almost 1 million are not citizens. European Union During the period under review, 322 thousand work visas were issued, compared with 198 thousand in the 12 months to June 2022. Almost two-thirds of work visas were received by citizens, and India. Nigeria Zimbabwe

The British Home Office and many independent economists say that net immigration is likely to slow down after 2023, as previously arrived students complete the learning cycle and return to their home countries, and the recovery of cross-border movement after COVID-19 will slow down. On the other hand, the ONS says, migrants stay in Britain longer than before, and students and workers bring more dependents with them. At the same time, migrants partially solve the problem of labor shortages - primarily in the field. health care^[3]

557 thousand people left Britain in a year, migrated there - 1.2 million

At the end of 2022, approximately 1.2 million migrants entered Britain, while about 557 thousand people left the country. Such figures are given in the report of the National Bureau of Statistics, published on May 25, 2023.

According to estimates, the net influx of migrants to Britain in 2022 reached 606 thousand people, which is a record high. This situation is primarily due to the formed geopolitical situation and the lifting of severe restrictions provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic. Most of the people who arrived in the country in 2022 were citizens of non-European Union states - about 925 thousand people. Another 151 thousand arrived from the EU, and approximately 88 thousand are returning citizens of Britain itself.

The report says that 39% of people from non-EU countries came to Britain in 2022 for reasons related to their studies. For comparison: a year earlier, this figure was 47%. At the same time, the flow of migrants who arrived in the country due to humanitarian problems has increased: their share on an annualized basis has risen from 9% to 19%.

Evidence suggests that students tend to stay in Britain for shorter periods than other migrants. Most students leave the country once the learning process is complete. Those students who arrived in Britain in 2021 are now starting to leave, leading to an increase in the overall emigration flow.

People arriving in Britain to seek asylum accounted for 8% of immigration from non-EU countries: their number in 2022 is estimated to have reached 76 thousand. This is significantly more than in the previous year, when the number of such visitors was approximately 53 thousand.

A series of unprecedented world events during 2022 and the lifting of restrictions after the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) led to a record level of international immigration to Britain, the authors of the study conclude.[4]

Albania's illegal migration crisis

In 2022, Britain faced an unprecedented influx of illegal immigrants from Albania.

Albanians at this time make up almost half of all migrants traveling to the British Isles by boat across the English Channel. In the fight against the so-called "boat crisis," Prime Minister Liz Truss offered to take the Scandinavian route and send them to Rwanda. Now the migration issue will be one of the key policy priorities of the new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.

According to various estimates, in 2022, about 14 thousand people entered Britain from Albania. There are an astonishing number of young men among them.

Considering that about 500 thousand men aged 14 to 40 live in Albania, almost every 30th left the country.

The reasons for the mass outflow of the male population of Albania lie not only in the fact that the Balkan state actually lives below the poverty line.

A special role is played by the established ties between the criminal groups of the two countries. Back in 2020, the British Ministry of Justice said that one in ten criminals in the country is Albanian. And since then, the number of immigrants from the Balkans coming to the country has only been growing.

Moreover, the transportation of fellow citizens to Britain has already become a separate type of criminal services for the Albanian community, on which Albanian organized crime groups earn well.

Speaking in Parliament, Rishi Sunak pledged to eliminate the queue of asylum claims by the end of 2023 by streamlining the assessment process.

At the same time, the British Ministry of the Interior will hire 400 additional employees to work with the Albanian group of migrants.

At the end of 2022, the Foggy Albion government is spending around £5.6m daily to secure the accommodation of asylum-seekers.

The British have already faced the fact that they have to cancel weddings and other celebrations, as hotels are massively given for the accommodation of illegal immigrants. Instead of hotels, Sunak proposed to resettle Albanians in abandoned recreation centers, military bases and student hostels.

Controlling the strait and stopping the flow of boats carrying illegal immigrants will be carried out by the new joint command of small vessels. It will include the National Crime Agency and Border Force.

In early 2023, the British prime minister also promised to pass a law that would "unequivocally clarify the status of migrants," securing and establishing the presence of illegal immigrants in the country. This will allow them to be detained and extradited to their homeland or taken to third countries.

Albanians are not happy with such prospects. And they express their dissatisfaction in no uncertain terms. In November 2022, a mass protest took place right on Westminster Bridge in London, at which they demanded an apology from Home Secretary Suella Braverman.

She expressed the opinion that the influx of residents of the Balkan country is "the invasion of Albanian illegal immigrants in Britain." Most of all, the demonstrators were outraged that the minister did not say a word about migrants of other nationalities.

2021: Net population inflow in 4 years

2020: Number of immigrants - 9.4 million

Foreigners living in the country

By 2020, Brexit has taken a large amount of labour out of the EU from the country. All this has exacerbated the shortage of workers in the supply chain, caused inflation and made trading difficult.

National composition

Indians

Jews

Share of the population living in the capital

Genetics

2022: Prevalence of the gene that causes red hair

Billionaires and millionaires

Main article: Britain's richest people

Poverty

2023: Number one for homelessness among advanced economies

In 2023, Britain ranks worst among advanced economies in terms of homelessness, with one in 200 families living in temporary accommodation. Why is homelessness much worse in Britain than in other countries?

Housing shortages, the destruction of the social sector and cuts in government support have left tens of thousands of people homeless.

2022

In Britain, 3.8 million beggars were counted, among them - 1 million children

In 2022, approximately 3.8 million people in Britain were in poverty. This figure is more than twice the figure for 2017, when 1.55 million citizens were below the poverty line. Compared to 2019, the number of beggars in the country jumped by 61%. Such data at the end of October 2023 was released by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF).

People are considered disadvantaged if they cannot meet their most basic needs, including regular meals and acceptable living conditions (warmth, dryness and cleanliness). In 2022, approximately 1.8 million British households were in poverty. They are home to a total of about 2.8 million adults and approximately 1 million children. The deterioration of the situation is explained by a number of factors, including a decrease in income, an increasing cost of living and a high level of debt. The study says the welfare system cannot protect people from poverty, with 72% of the disadvantaged receiving benefits.

The number of disadvantaged minors is growing especially rapidly. If in 2017 there were about 362 thousand of them, then in 2022 - 1.04 million. That is, an almost threefold increase was recorded. Compared to 2019, the increase in poor children was 88%.

Almost two-thirds (62%) of people in need in Britain have disabilities or chronic health problems that limit their daily activities. For comparison, in 2019 this figure was 54%. In 2022, the highest levels of poverty were seen in London, followed by the North East and North West, as well as the West Midlands. The most common problem is food shortages, reported by 61% of all disadvantaged respondents. In second place in this anti-rating are difficulties with heating households.^[5]

14% of Britain's population goes hungry due to high prices

One in seven British residents, or approximately 14%, were malnourished or starved in 2022 due to lack of money. Such figures are provided in a study by the charity Trussell Trust, the results of which were presented on June 28, 2023.

It is estimated that the problem of hunger affected approximately 11.3 million Britons. The authors of the report cite several reasons why residents of the country are forced to deny themselves food. This is, in particular, an ineffective social security system, a crisis in the cost of living and a low level of income of the population. Citizens are under pressure from high inflation, which outpaces wage growth in almost all industries. As of 2022, it is estimated that British households were experiencing the biggest two-year decline in living standards since the collection of relevant statistics began in the 1950s.

The Trussell Trust, a network of 1,300 food centers across Britain, delivered a record 3 million food packages during the year by March 2023. This is 37% more than the result for the previous annual period and more than double the number provided five years earlier. The organization said 7% of the country's population received charitable food aid in 2022. However, 71% of people faced with hunger could not take advantage of this opportunity.

The rapid rise in food prices hit the population hard. Unions and politicians have accused supermarkets of being "greedy." Inflation in the food segment of Britain in May and June 2023 amounted to 18.3% and 14.6%, respectively. Against this background, the government increases benefits and the state pension, raises the minimum wage and provides financial support to needy families.^[6]

2020: 4.6% of Britons are malnourished

Notes