The UK's population rose by over 10 million between 1945 and 2000. It is expected to grow by 6.1 million to 65.7 million by 2031 and then reach a peak at 67 million by 2051.
Death Rate
Death rate has been low in the 20th Century due to great improvements in medical care and nutrition.
Current UK death rate is 9 deaths per thousand of the population per year.
Birth Rate
Birth rate has reduced considerably due to:
The increasing ease of access to contraception.
Agriculture becoming mechanised so fewer children are required to work the land.
Infant mortality rates lowering.
The desire for material possessions taking over from the desire for large families.
Equality of women meaning that many have pursued careers rather than staying at home.
Birth rate in the UK is higher than many countries in the rest of Europe.
Current birth rate is 12 births per thousand of the population per year.
Natural Increase (NI)
Current NI in the UK is 3 (3 is the difference between the birth rate and death rate).
There has been a considerable amount of immigration into the UK and this has increase the population considerably.
Many people living in former colonies of the British Empire such as in India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the Caribbean, South Africa, Kenya and Hong Kong have arrived in the UK.
Many others have come as asylum seekers seeking protection as refugees from war torn countries such as Afghanistan, Sudan, Iran and Zimbabwe.
There has been much immigration from countries within the EU. In 2004, Poland and seven other Eastern European countries joined the EU and this led to much immigration to the UK
In 2005, about 565,000 migrants arrived in the UK and only 380,000 people left the UK to live abroad. 57,000 of these immigrants were from Poland.