UK population grows by over 4 million in decade to new estimate of 67.6 million

The population of the UK grew to an estimated 67.6 million people in mid-2022, up by over 4 million people in around a decade, new figures show.

The country’s population rose by 4.3 million since mid-2011, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed.

The data comes after the ONS projected that the UK would be home to 70 million people in the next two years.

Projections in January revealed the population of the UK is on course to leap by 10 per cent by 2036 to nearly 74 million.

England saw the biggest increase between 2011 and 2022, with the population jumping by 7.5 per cent - the equivalent of 4 million people.

In the same period Northern Ireland saw the next highest increase at 5.3 per cent, or an additional 96,225 people, followed by Scotland (2.8 per cent or 147,800 people) and Wales (2.2 per cent or 67,882 people).

The figures published by the ONS are the first UK-wide estimates for mid-2022, making them the most up-to-date snapshot of the country’s population.

They show the median average age of people in the UK in the year to June 2022 was 40.7 years, up from 39.6 years in the year to June 2011.