ENGLAND and Wales saw their second-largest population rise in 75 years, mostly due to high levels of immigration, according to new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Between mid-2023 and June 2024, the population increased by over 706,000 people, bringing the total to 61.8 million. Net migration — the number of people arriving minus those leaving — accounted for nearly all of that rise, with over 690,000 people added. Only about 30,000 of the growth came from natural change (more births than deaths).
This follows a larger rise the year before, when more than 821,000 people were added. That means the population grew by 1.5 million in just two years — the biggest two-year increase since records began in 1949.
However, more recent data shows net migration dropped sharply to 431,000 by the end of 2024, due to new visa restrictions. Fewer international students arrived, and more left after finishing their studies.
A ban on most students bringing family members also contributed. Rules were also tightened for foreign care workers, stopping them from bringing dependants, reported the Times.
The Labour government plans to go further. From next year, foreign graduates will only be allowed to stay for 18 months after their course ends, down from the current two years.
Home secretary Yvette Cooper blamed the previous Conservative government for letting immigration get out of control.
She said, “Under the Tories, overseas recruitment shot up while training in the UK was cut. Lower-skilled migration soared while the proportion of UK residents in work fell.”
She added that Labour had already introduced new immigration rules to bring numbers down, linking visa routes more closely with skills training in the UK.
But the Conservatives argued the Labour plans don’t go far enough. Shadow Home Office minister Katie Lam said: “Our population is growing at an unsustainable pace, almost entirely driven by record levels of immigration… Britain simply cannot plan or build fast enough to keep up.”
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage called the figures “disastrous,” saying they put “impossible pressure” on public services and damage community life.
The ONS also found more people moved from England and Wales to Scotland and Northern Ireland than the other way around.
Dr Madeleine Sumption, from the University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory, said, “Migration is still the main reason for population growth — not because of births, but because migration remains high by historical standards.”
