Daily Mail
December 12, 2013
Britain’s population will surge to 132million over the next century if current trends persist, officials said yesterday.
High immigration, rising birth rates and growing life expectancy are behind the forecast from the Office for National Statistics.
It said the UK population – already the fastest growing in Europe – will hit 100million by 2075 and 132million by 2112.
That would be more than double the current estimate of 63.7million, prompting calls last night from senior MPs for urgent restrictions ahead of an expected influx of Romanians and Bulgarians next year.
Analysts believe a population of 70million would critically overstretch housing, transport, health, education, energy and other services.
If immigration were to stop now, the population would gradually fall to below its present level, the ONS said.
It has produced a series of projections based on ‘alternative assumptions’ as what is likely to happen under different levels of immigration, births and life expectancy.
According to the principal estimates – those the ONS considers most likely to come true – the population will rise to 73.3million in 2037, and the politically sensitive 70million point will come as early as 2027.