UK Population expected to rise to over 73 Million

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics today show that the UK population could rise by nearly 10 million over the next 25 years.

The ONS figures project the UK could have a population of 73.3million up from an estimated population of 63.7 million in 2012.

A much larger proportion of this population will be much older as well putting more pressure on services as the number of people aged over 80, will double.

The projections forecast an average UK annual population growth of 0.6 per cent until 2037.

More than half of this half of the 9.6m increase is down to an increased birth-to-death ratio with 5.4m more births than deaths during the period. (57% of the rise)

However the ONS has said that the overall population increase can be traced to migration as its root cause. This is as people coming into the country also contribute to birth rates in the extended period.

The projections include a "significant" increase in the number aged 100 and over from 13,000 to 111,000.

The number of people of working age for every person of state pension age is projected to fall even taking into account planned changes to eligibility for the state pension.

Richard Pereira, head of population statistics for the ONS, said: "These population projections are used across Government in terms of setting policy, they are used by the Office for Budget Responsibilty (OBR) as a key input for their long-term fiscal projections, they are used by the Department for Work and Pensions for policy on benefits and pensions, and they are used by people like the Department for Education."