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Over 40 pct of British population lives in 11 biggest city regions

Xinhua, October 13, 2016 Adjust font size:

Over 27 million people now live in Britain's biggest city regions, representing over 40 percent of the country's total population of 65 million, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported Wednesday.

Greater London, with 8.7 million residents, is over three times more than any other area in Britain, and is also the fastest growing, reporting the biggest rise in population compared with 2011, said ONS.

The 5.7 percent growth in Greater London's population was nearly six times the 1 percent growth seen in Scotland's Glasgow city region, which recorded the lowest population change. During the last five-year period, Greater London's population rose by almost 470,000 to 8,674,000.

Britain's second biggest region, Birmingham and the West Midlands, saw its population grow by 94,000 to 2,834,000, a rise of 3.4 percent.

Greater Manchester saw the third biggest rise in population, going up 71,000 to 2,756,000. In England the lowest population increase was seen in Liverpool, an 18,000 rise from 2011 to 1,525,000.

ONS reported that all 11 of Britain's most populous city regions examined in their study have seen population increases since 2011.

A spokesman for ONS said: "Change in the population size of city regions is caused by a combination of births, deaths, internal (within-Britain) migration and international migration."

Greater London is, according to ONS, the most dynamic city region in Britain for international migration, accounting for 34 percent of all immigration to the UK.

"London's attraction to immigrants no doubt reflects its status as a major employment center and international hub. With its high ethnic minority population it may prove especially attractive to people wishing to join family or others from that cultural background," said an ONS spokesman.

Around Britain, 38 percent of the population is aged between 16 and 44. In the city regions, only Liverpool and the North East, each with 37 percent, have a lower number in this age bracket than the national average.

The ONS analysis shows that by 2015, Greater London's population is expected to reach over 9.8 million, a 12.7 percent growth compared to 2015.

This is almost double the predicted population for Britain, which to grow by 6.7 percent to almost 69.5 million within a decade. Endit