The UK’s population is projected to reach 73.7 million by 2036, not 2026

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has estimated that net migration will increase Britain’s population by nearly 10 per cent, or 6.1 million by mid-2026.

That is equivalent to a population of two and a half times the size of Greater Manchester, spanning a rise from 67 million to 73.7 million between mid-2021 and mid-2026.

An article published in the print edition of the Daily Telegraph today claims that new population projections published by the Office for National Statistics estimate that net migration “will increase Britain’s population by nearly 10 per cent, or 6.1 million by mid-2026”, with the population estimated to “rise from 67 million to 73.7 million between mid-2021 and mid-2026”.

The article’s sub-heading also claims that the total population is “set to be raised by nearly 10pc by 2026”.

This isn’t correct. These figures refer to the estimated amount by which the UK population is projected to grow by mid-2036, not mid-2026.

The UK’s population is projected to reach more than 70 million by mid-2026, as the first line of the article states, but is not projected to reach 73.7 million until a decade later.

The figures are reported correctly in the online version of the article, published yesterday, while a short summary on the front page of the newspaper today also correctly reports the year as “mid-2036”.

Newspapers should make every effort to achieve due accuracy in all output. False or misleading claims should be appropriately and clearly corrected in a timely manner. We’ve contacted the Daily Telegraph for comment and will update this article if we receive a response.

Image courtesy of Samuel Regan-Asante.