UK foreigner numbers at record high

The Office for National Statistics has revealed that the number of UK residents that are from overseas reached a new high last year of 6.7 million.

The annual ONS report on population data further revealed that one in every eleven people who live in Britain had been born outside the country. Additionally, close to 25 percent of all births in Wales and England last year were to foreign-born women. These figures did not take into account immigrants that were due to or have returned home stated Immigration Minister Phil Woolas.

Out of the total of 708,711 births recorded in the UK in 2008 the number from foreign-born women constituted 170,834. Migrants from Eastern Europe alone had 25,000 children.

The ONS predicted that the population of the UK would rise by approximately 10 million over the next 25 years, which would mean a doubling of that recorded in the past quarter of a century. The statistics agency has forecasted that the UK population will reach 71.6 million by the year 2033 – up from the existing level of 61.4 million.

These figures have been disputed in the past as they are based on immigration trends which are unlikely to continue in the coming years. To address these concerns Mr Woolas warned that the ONS projections did not factor future government changes or indeed many temporary migrants who stay and work in the UK for a short period.