.One third of the increase was down to immigrants but the other cause is that 243,900 more babies were born last year than people died
.The number of live births in Britain was 813,000 in 2012, the second highest number in Europe – only beaten by France where 822,000 babies were born
.The figures bring the UK’s total population to 63,888,000
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
The number of people in Britain went up more last year than in any other European country.
The newest figues, which come from Eurostat, show that were almost 400,000 more people in Britain in 2012 than the year before and more than a third of the increase was down to immigrants.
The remaining increase is accounted for as ‘natural change’ in that 243,900 more babies were born last year than people died.
Getting crowded: Britain is already the most densely populated country in Europe – the population now stands at 63,888,000
The figures bring the UK’s total population to 63,888,000.
The number of live births in Britain was 813,000 in 2012, the second highest number in Europe and only beaten by France where 822,000 babies were born.
This very high birth rate does much account for the population growth which is almost three times the EU average.
By comparison In Germany the number of people dying in 2012 outnumbered the births by almost 200,000.
Simon Ross, chief executive of campaign group Population Matters, said the figures represented a growing problem especially given that Britain is already the Europe’s most densely populated country.
He said: ‘England is already Europe’s most densely populated country. Why should we also have Europe’s highest population growth rate? More people make things worse,
‘If we are serious about tackling the many issues we face as a society, we need to address one of the principal underlying causes, which is population growth.’
The second fastest growing EU country is France with 305,500 more people in 2012, 82 per cent of which were accounted for by a rise in births – their total population now stands at 65,633,200.
Rising tensions: Coverage of groups of Romanians camping in London’s parks provoked fresh debate over the role of immigrants in what many feel is already and overcrowded country
While immigration is a major political controversy in Britain, the increase in population caused by new immigrants arriving of just under 149,000 was less than half of the immigrants entering Germany, 391,000 and in Italy, 369,00.
Many point out that without immigration, the EU’s total population would be stagnant or in decline – it grew by just over one million people in 2012, 882,000 of whom were migrants.
One cause for continued migration is the economic crisis in the eurozone which has led to a contraction in the population of some countries as the young and unemployed move elsewhere to improve their chances in life.
Emigration was highest in Ireland during 2012, where 35,000 people left the country.
High rates of emigration were also recorded in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Greece, Portugal, and Spain.