PA MediaThe population of England and Wales is estimated to have jumped by more than 700,000 in the year to June 2024, the second-largest rise in more than 75 years, figures show.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said almost all of the increase was due to international migration, despite it being lower than the previous year at 690,100 compared with 833,700 in the 12 months to June 2023.
Natural change – where there are more births than deaths – accounted for only a small proportion.
The estimates suggest there were 61.8 million people in England and Wales in June 2024, up 706,881 from 61.1 million in mid-2023.
The number of people living in England and Wales has risen annually since mid-1982, with migration contributing most to the growth every year since mid-1999.
Before then, natural change was the main reason for growth.
The rise in the year to June 2024 is the second-biggest year-on-year jump in population since at least 1949 – the earliest comparable ONS data.
Tackling immigration has been a key challenge for both the previous Conservative and current Labour governments.
Labour said the estimates published on Wednesday “confirm the truth of the Tory legacy on immigration”.
Home Secretary Yvette Cooper 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 plummeted and hundreds of thousands of people were given visas to arrive and stay in the UK.”
She said net migration had “come steeply down” under Labour, there were now tighter controls on visas and stronger requirements to link the points-based immigration system to skills and training.
Shadow home secretary Chris Philp acknowledged the numbers were “far too high” and “the pressure on housing and social cohesion is unacceptable”.
He said: “Under new leadership the Conservative Party has put forward serious, workable policies to get immigration numbers dramatically down.”
Leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, said the figures were “disastrous for the quality of life for everyone in the country. It puts impossible pressures on public services and further divides our communities”.
The ONS estimates suggest 1,142,303 people immigrated to England and Wales in the 12 months to June 2024, while 452,156 were likely to have emigrated, leaving a net migration figure of 690,147.
The drop from a net migration of 833,696 the previous year is likely due to to a fall in the number of foreign nationals from outside the EU coming to the UK on work and study visas, along with a rise in students leaving at the end of their courses.
Changes in migration rules introduced in early 2024 by the previous Conservative government included restrictions on international students bringing family members with them to the UK as well as banning overseas care workers from bringing dependants.
There were slightly more births (596,012) than deaths (566,030), adding 29,982 to the population.
This natural change increased the size of the population in four regions – London, south-east England, the West Midlands and eastern England.
The ONS said other regions had negative natural change, reflecting “a long-term decline in fertility and an increasing number of deaths because of the growing proportion of older people”.
Previous ONS statistics showed women in England and Wales had an average of 1.44 children between 2022 and 2023, the lowest on record.
Across 10 years from 2014 to 2024, the East Midlands had the highest level of growth at 9.1%, while north-east England had the lowest at 5.7%.