The Office for National Statistic revealed the newest study describing a massive population growth in the near future.
The population in the United Kingdom is said to grow almost 15% in the next 24 years.
9 million people will be added to the current number raising it to a total of 73 million countries in the UK.
Such a large increase in number is greatly attributed to the influx of migrants into the country. In addition, the ONS found that by 2037, the population will be much more aged than it currently is meaning that the average age will rise. The aged population will not only be older, estimates say 3 years older, but larger in number.
As the average age and the population size increase, the workforce will be forced to retire at a later age in order to keep the economy healthy and prosperous.
In addition, the ONS estimates that the average lifespan will increase. The number of individuals expected to live over 80 years will double. The number of women expected to live past the age of 105 is expected to increase by 3,000 in the next two decades.
Immigration
The Office for National Statistics also discovered that immigration into the UK is the greatest cause of population growth, directly and indirectly.
It is directly responsible as the statistics indicate much of the increase will be due to an influx of over 4 million individuals. It discusses further that 60% of the overall increase will be attributed to immigration in general.
Individuals who will migrate to the United Kingdom will have triggered a 5.8 million increase in current population size. While this number includes the individuals who will migrate, it also includes the effect they will have on the birthrate of the nation.
These estimates are indicative of future policy planning with special emphasis on healthcare, pensions and schooling and is likely to be a topic of political debate.
Pensions
Another notable point extracted from the ONS data is the increase in the size of the elderly population.
This indicated that a larger sized number of pensioners is to be expected in the near future. The ONS estimates that the number of state pensioners will increase to over 16 million individuals which is one third more that the current number.
It is speculated that the reason for an increase in elderly population is due to the sudden spike in family size and birth rate after the Second World War in the early 1960’s.
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