Key Points

• The population of the UK grew to 64.1 million in mid-2013, representing a gain of 400,600 (0.63%) over the previous year mid-2012. This growth is slightly below the average since 2003.
• This means that the UK’s population has increased by around 5 million since 2001, and by more than 10 million since 1964.
• Natural change (births minus deaths) contributed slightly more than net international migration to the population gain in the year. There were 212,100 more births than deaths (53% of the increase) and 183,400 more immigrants arriving than emigrants leaving (46% of the increase).
• The estimated populations of the four constituent countries of the UK in mid-2013 are 53.9 million (growth of 0.70%) in England, 5.3 million (growth of 0.27%) in Scotland, 3.1 million (growth of 0.27%) in Wales and 1.8 million (growth of 0.33%) in Northern Ireland.
• There were 792,400 births and 580,300 deaths in the year ending 30 June 2013. The number of births decreased from the previous year but is still above average for the last decade. The number of deaths increased from the previous year and is the highest since the year to mid-2005.
• The population of the UK aged 65 and over was 11.1 million (17.4% of the UK population) in mid-2013, up by 290,800 from mid-2012. The number of people in this age group has increased by 17.3% since 2003.
• Growth of the UK population in the year to mid-2013 was higher than the EU average and highest of the four most populous EU member states.