UK population grows to more than 60m

Sources: 2005 Mid-year population estimates: Office for National Statistics; General Register Office for Scotland and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.

Notes:

The average age of the population has been estimated using the median value. The median is the mid-point age that separates the younger half of the population from the older half.

Figures in the table may not add exactly due to rounding.

Population: by gender and age, mid-2005


The UK has an ageing population. This is the result of declines both in fertility rates and in the mortality rate. This has led to a declining proportion of the population aged under 16 and an increasing proportion aged 65 and over.

In every year since 1901, with the exception of 1976, there have been more births than deaths in the UK and the population has grown due to natural change. Until the mid-1990s, this natural increase was the main driver of population growth. Since the late 1990s, although there has still been natural increase, net international migration into the UK from abroad has been an increasingly important factor in population change.
(from statistic.gov.uk)