UK immigration leads to largest population growth in Europe

July 28 2010 by Liam Clifford

Population growth in the UK has reached higher levels than in any other European country, according to figures released yesterday.

The EU’s Eurostat figures show that the population growth measured in the UK last year accounted for almost a third of the growth measured for the 27 EU nations cumulatively. The number of people living in the EU rose by 1.4 million last year, with the UK population growing by 412,000.

Much of the growth was down to the number of people immigrating to the UK from abroad. The rise was also attributed to increasing numbers of births within families who have recently settled in the UK.

The British population grew by 6 for every 1,000 people last year. This was compared to 5.4 for every 1,000 living in France and 4.9 for every 1,000 living in Italy.

Population increases in Poland totalled less than 1 for every 1,000 people, indicating that many Polish people who moved to the UK over the past decade are still living and working in the UK.

Sir Andrew Green from Migrationwatch responded to the figures by stating: “This is further confirmation that the population of the UK is rising extremely fast, mainly due to immigration, which accounts for two thirds of the projected population growth of the next 25 years.”

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