Society & PopulationUK edition
How fast the UK population has grown each year, 2018 to 2025
The UK population grew by 0.3% in 2025, against 1.1% in 2024 and 1.31% in 2023, the highest annual rate between 2018 and 2025.
- 20180.49%
- 20190.51%
- 20200.17%
- 20210.36%
- 20220.98%
- 20231.31%
- 20241.1%
- 20250.3%
The latest annual figure
For an ordinary household, the latest figure means the country added people more slowly in 2025 than in the two years before. The UK population grew by 0.3% in 2025.
Sources for this paragraph (1)
- F8 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.3% · 2025 · World Bank
That rate is lower than the 1.1% recorded for 2024. The 2024 rate was itself lower than the 1.31% recorded for 2023.
Sources for this paragraph (3)
- F6 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 1.31% · 2023 · World Bank
- F7 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 1.1% · 2024 · World Bank
- F8 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.3% · 2025 · World Bank
Year by year: the official series
The measure is annual population growth, in per cent. Each figure compares the population with the year before, so every value is a change over 12 months.
Sources for this paragraph (2)
- F1 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.49% · 2018 · World Bank
- F8 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.3% · 2025 · World Bank
Growth was 0.49% in 2018 and 0.51% in 2019. In 2020 the rate was 0.17%, the smallest annual figure in this series.
Sources for this paragraph (3)
- F1 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.49% · 2018 · World Bank
- F2 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.51% · 2019 · World Bank
- F3 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.17% · 2020 · World Bank
From there the rate climbed for three years in a row. It reached 0.36% in 2021, 0.98% in 2022 and 1.31% in 2023.
Sources for this paragraph (4)
- F3 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.17% · 2020 · World Bank
- F4 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.36% · 2021 · World Bank
- F5 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.98% · 2022 · World Bank
- F6 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 1.31% · 2023 · World Bank
The rate then came down two years running, to 1.1% in 2024 and 0.3% in 2025.
Sources for this paragraph (3)
- F6 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 1.31% · 2023 · World Bank
- F7 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 1.1% · 2024 · World Bank
- F8 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.3% · 2025 · World Bank
Set against earlier years
The 2025 rate of 0.3% is below the rates of 0.49% in 2018 and 0.51% in 2019. It is close to the 0.36% seen in 2021.
Sources for this paragraph (4)
- F1 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.49% · 2018 · World Bank
- F2 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.51% · 2019 · World Bank
- F4 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.36% · 2021 · World Bank
- F8 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.3% · 2025 · World Bank
It is well under the 2023 figure of 1.31%. In other words, the population was still growing in 2025, but by a much smaller share than at the 2023 high point.
Sources for this paragraph (2)
- F6 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 1.31% · 2023 · World Bank
- F8 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.3% · 2025 · World Bank
What it means for people living in the UK
A growth rate of 0.3% means the number of people living in the UK still went up in 2025. The increase was smaller than in any year from 2022 to 2024.
Sources for this paragraph (4)
- F5 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.98% · 2022 · World Bank
- F6 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 1.31% · 2023 · World Bank
- F7 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 1.1% · 2024 · World Bank
- F8 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.3% · 2025 · World Bank
A separate measure, the fertility rate, stood at 1.55 births per woman in 2024. It counts births, not total population change, so it cannot be set against the growth rate as if the two measured the same thing.
Sources for this paragraph (1)
- C40 United Kingdom Fertility rate, total (births per woman) · 1.55 · 2024 · World Bank
These figures do not show how the change in growth affects housing, schools, health services or jobs in any particular area.
Sources for this paragraph (1)
- F8 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.3% · 2025 · World Bank
What the data does and does not show
The series gives one national rate per year. It does not split growth into births, deaths or people moving to and from the UK, so it cannot explain why the rate changed.
Sources for this paragraph (2)
- F1 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.49% · 2018 · World Bank
- F8 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.3% · 2025 · World Bank
It also says nothing about regions or age groups. Annual figures can be revised when later population estimates are published, and no figure for 2026 is included here.
Sources for this paragraph (1)
- F8 United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) · 0.3% · 2025 · World Bank
Scenarios to watch
- Scenario, not a forecast If the next annual release shows a rate above 0.3%, growth will have picked up again after two years of smaller increases.
- Scenario, not a forecast If the next release shows a rate at or below 0.3%, the run of smaller annual increases that began after 2023 will have continued.
- Scenario, not a forecast If earlier years are revised in later population estimates, the shape of the 2018 to 2025 series could change.
What to check next
- The next annual population growth figure for the UK, covering 2026
- Any revisions to the published rates for 2023, 2024 and 2025
- Official breakdowns of population change into births, deaths and migration
- Updates to the UK fertility rate after the 2024 figure of 1.55 births per woman
Verified data used in this report
| Indicator | Value | Period | Sources | Accessed | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| F1 | United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) | 0.49% | 2018 | World Bank | |
| F2 | United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) | 0.51% | 2019 | World Bank | |
| F3 | United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) | 0.17% | 2020 | World Bank | |
| F4 | United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) | 0.36% | 2021 | World Bank | |
| F5 | United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) | 0.98% | 2022 | World Bank | |
| F6 | United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) | 1.31% | 2023 | World Bank | |
| F7 | United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) | 1.1% | 2024 | World Bank | |
| F8 | United Kingdom Population growth (annual %) | 0.3% | 2025 | World Bank | |
| C38 | United Kingdom GDP growth (annual %) | 1.39% | 2025 | World Bank | |
| C39 | United Kingdom Unemployment, total (% of labour force, ILO modelled estimate) | 4.75% | 2025 | World Bank | |
| C40 | United Kingdom Fertility rate, total (births per woman) | 1.55 | 2024 | World Bank | |
| C41 | United Kingdom Population aged 65 and above (% of total population) | 19.7% | 2025 | World Bank | |
| C43 | United Kingdom central bank policy rate (month-end) | 3.75% | 2026-09 | Bank of England | |
| C44 | United Kingdom consumer price inflation (12-month change) | 3.5% | 2026-09 | Office for National Statistics (UK) | |
| C45 | United Kingdom CPIH inflation, including owner occupiers' housing costs (12-month change) | 3.6% | 2026-09 | Office for National Statistics (UK) | |
| C46 | United Kingdom food price inflation (12-month change) | 1.3% | 2026-09 | Office for National Statistics (UK) | |
| C47 | United Kingdom unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) | 4.7% | 2026-07 | Office for National Statistics (UK) | |
| C48 | United Kingdom average weekly earnings growth (3-month average, 12-month change) | 3.7% | 2026-08 | Office for National Statistics (UK) |
Sources
How this report was checked
- Data: the newest reference period cited is 2026-09.
- Figures were collected from the source on
- Written by an AI model (claude-opus-5-5) using only the official figures listed in this report.
- Automatic checks passed: every number matches a cited figure, every paragraph names its evidence, and there is no investment advice or copied source text.
- A separate quality-check model found no unsupported or speculative sentences.
- No person reviewed this report before publication. Automatic checks confirm the numbers, not every interpretation.
Update history
- 2026-10-31 11:01 UTC — created
- 2026-10-31 11:01 UTC — approved+published