UK could become largest EU country by 2050

New projections reveal that the UK will become the largest country in the EU within the next three decades if current immigration and birth rates continue.

According to the EU’s official statistics body, Eurostat, the UK’s population will reach 75 million by 2050 on current trends, and would then continue to soar as the populations in other European countries start to stabilise.

The UK has had the fastest-growing population in the EU over the past decade, buoyed by a rapidly rising immigration intake over the past 15 years – particularly from other EU countries. Figures show that one in eight people currently living in the UK were born in another country, compared to just one in 11 ten years ago.

Eurostat predicts that Europe’s total population will grow by just 11 million people to 520 million by 2080, a figure that will be driven by immigration. If rates stay similar to as they are presently, then the population of the UK will increase to 85 million, while many other countries in the EU will see population declines in this time, as residents continue to leave or the lower birth rates of the native population prevail.

The UK currently has the third largest population in the EU, behind only Germany and France. According to the Eurostat projections, if things continue at their current rate, Germany’s population could decline by almost 15 million people by 2050.