The UK experienced its lowest population growth rate outside of pandemic years since 1998, rising just 0.33% to reach an estimated 69.5 million people by mid-2025. This slowdown is primarily due to a significant decrease in net migration, which dropped from 651,700 in the previous year to 222,900. Despite more births than deaths (though narrowly), natural population growth has diminished considerably compared to recent years. England remains the only part of the UK showing slight population increase; Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland experienced near-zero or negative growth.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-01,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Story summary
The UK's population growth slowed to its lowest rate outside the pandemic since 1998, reaching an estimated 69.5 million people in mid-2025. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported a rise of just 0.33%, which is significantly lower than previous years' increases of 1.05%, 1.34%, and 0.97% in 2022, 2023, and 2024 respectively. This sharp slowdown is primarily due to a rapid drop in net migration since it peaked in 2023, with the latest figure standing at an estimated 222,900 migrants. Additionally, there were only 652,400 births recorded in the year to mid-2025, marking the lowest number of births in more than four decades. Wales experienced a first population decline since 2015, while Scotland and Northern Ireland saw minimal growth; England alone showed a small increase. The ONS also noted fewer arrivals through official humanitarian resettlement schemes and an uptick in people leaving the country.
Written for “UK Population Growth Slows” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 2 other(s) covering the same event.
UK population growth is estimated to have slowed to its lowest rate outside the Covid-19 pandemic since 1998, figures show.
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figures → estimate → 1998
The sharp slowdown is mostly due to the ongoing fall in net migration, which has dropped rapidly since hitting record levels in 2023.
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which → drop → 2023
While there continue to be slightly more births than deaths in the UK, the gap between the two has narrowed.
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gap → continue → two
The four countries of the UK are showing different trends, with Wales seeing its first drop in population for a decade, Scotland and Northern Ireland experiencing almost no growth, and only England showing a small increase.
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England → show → increase
The total population of the UK stood at an estimated 69.5 million people in mid-2025, up by 227,665 on the previous 12 months, according to figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
uncertain
population → stand → Statistics
This is a rise of just 0.33%, which is the lowest annual rate of increase since 1998, excluding the pandemic-affected year of 2020.
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which → exclude → 2020
It comes after a sequence of much larger jumps in population of 1.05% in 2022, 1.34% in 2023 and 0.97% in 2024.
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It → come → 2024
These were caused by a spike in net international migration to UK, which is the difference between the number of people moving long-term into the country and those emigrating abroad.
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which → cause → country
Net migration in the year to mid-2025 is estimated to be 222,900, down steeply from 651,700 in the previous 12 months.
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migration → estimate → months
Some 652,400 births took place in the year to mid-2025, the lowest for more than four decades, the ONS said.
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ONS → take → decades
There were 647,500 deaths over the same period, meaning natural change – the difference between births and deaths – contributed an increase to the UK population of only 4,900.
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change → be → 4,900
Read More
This is lower than the previous year, when natural change stood at 16,200.
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change → read → 16,200
But it is higher than the 12 months to mid-2023, when there were more deaths than births in the UK, resulting in negative net change of minus 16,300.
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it → be → 16,300
Projections published earlier this year by the ONS suggested deaths could outnumber births each year in the UK from 2026 onwards.
uncertain
deaths → publish → 2026
They also showed population growth continuing to slow and then come to a halt, with the size of the UK population starting to fall in the mid-2050s.
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size → show → mid-2050s
The ONS projections were based on current and past trends, particularly the recent fall in net migration and lower fertility rates.
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projections → base → migration
This means they are not forecasts or predictions, and do not take into account what may or may not happen in the future.
uncertain
what → mean → future
A number of factors are likely to have caused the recent drop in net migration.
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number → cause → migration
There has been a decline in people from outside the European Union coming to the UK for work-related reasons.
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people → come → reasons
This follows policy changes introduced by the previous Conservative government and continued by the current Labour administration, which have tightened the rules for coming to the country for employment.
There have also been fewer arrivals in the UK through official humanitarian resettlement schemes, as well as an increase in people moving out of the country.
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which → follow → country
While England saw its population grow by an estimated 0.39% in the year to June 2025, Scotland and Northern Ireland both saw almost no annual growth, at 0.04% and 0.03% respectively.
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Scotland → see → %
The estimated population of Wales fell by 0.09%: the first year on year drop since 2015.
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population → fall → 2015
This is because the population of both countries is older on average than in England or Northern Ireland, leading to a slightly higher rate of deaths and lower rate of births, the ONS said.
“The average number of children that are born to women in Wales and Scotland is also lower than the rest of the UK, which contributes to fewer births,” the agency added.
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agency → lead → births
Net international migration contributed to population growth in all four countries, but this was more than offset in Wales by the level of negative natural change – more deaths than births – which is why the overall population here is estimated to have fallen.
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population → contribute → births
The Aporia
