The UK population is estimated to have grown at its slowest rate outside the Covid-19 pandemic since 1998, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and reported by the Press Association.
The population stood at an estimated 69.5 million in mid-2025, an increase of 227,665 over the previous 12 months. That represented annual growth of 0.33%, excluding the pandemic-affected year of 2020.
The latest increase was considerably smaller than the rises recorded in the previous three years. The population grew by 1.05% in 2022, 1.34% in 2023 and 0.97% in 2024. Those larger increases were driven by a sharp rise in net international migration.
Net migration, which measures the difference between people moving to the UK long term and those emigrating abroad, was estimated at 222,900 in the year to mid-2025. That was down from 651,700 in the previous 12 months.
The fall follows a record level of net migration in 2023. The figures indicate that the recent slowdown has been driven mainly by fewer people arriving from outside the European Union for work-related reasons, alongside fewer arrivals through official humanitarian resettlement schemes and an increase in people leaving the UK.
The changes follow tighter employment-related immigration rules introduced by the previous Conservative government and continued by the current Labour administration.
Natural change, the difference between births and deaths, also made a smaller contribution to population growth. There were an estimated 652,400 births in the year to mid-2025, the lowest number for more than four decades, and 647,500 deaths.
As a result, natural change added just 4,900 people to the population. That was down from an increase of 16,200 in the previous year, although it was higher than in the year to mid-2023, when deaths exceeded births and natural change reduced the population by 16,300.
ONS projections published earlier this year suggested that deaths could outnumber births every year from 2026 onwards. The projections also indicated that population growth could continue to slow before coming to a halt, with the UK population beginning to fall in the mid-2050s.
However, the ONS said the projections are based on current and past trends, particularly the recent fall in net migration and lower fertility rates. They are not forecasts or predictions and do not account for what may happen in the future.
Population trends varied across the four countries of the UK. England recorded estimated growth of 0.39% in the year to June 2025, while Scotland and Northern Ireland experienced almost no change, with growth of 0.04% and 0.03% respectively.
Wales recorded an estimated population decline of 0.09%, its first year-on-year fall since 2015. Scotland and Wales both had more deaths than births during the period.
The ONS said the two countries have older populations on average than England and Northern Ireland, resulting in slightly higher death rates and lower birth rates. It also said the average number of children born to women in Wales and Scotland is lower than in the rest of the UK, contributing to fewer births.
Net international migration contributed to population growth in all four countries. In Wales, however, that increase was more than offset by negative natural change, meaning that deaths exceeded births and the overall population fell.
The ONS also published estimates for individual local authority areas. Of the 361 authorities in the UK, 257, or 71%, recorded population growth between mid-2024 and mid-2025, while 104, or 29%, saw a decline.
Rugby in Warwickshire recorded the largest percentage increase, at 2.39%. It was followed by Mid Suffolk, up 2.05%; Tewkesbury in Gloucestershire, up 2.01%; and South Derbyshire, up 1.94%.
The Isles of Scilly recorded the largest percentage decrease, at 3.52%, followed by Camden, down 1.77%, Westminster, down 1.54%, and Lincoln, down 1.51%.
In Scotland, East Lothian had the largest percentage increase, at 1.11%, while Clackmannanshire recorded the biggest fall, at 0.69%. In Wales, Newport saw the largest increase, at 0.70%, and Merthyr Tydfil the largest decrease, at 0.61%.
In Northern Ireland, Lisburn & Castlereagh recorded the largest increase, at 0.46%, while Mid Ulster had the biggest decrease, at 0.28%.
The figures show a marked shift from the period of rapid population growth associated with high net migration. They also point to the growing influence of births and deaths on population change, although the ONS projections about future declines remain projections based on current and past trends rather than predictions of what will necessarily happen.
