Statisticians also projected that Britain’s society will continue ageing, with more than one in 12 people aged 80 or over by 2039.
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The UK’s population is set to soar by around 10 million over the next 25 years – according to official figures.
The population increase means the United Kingdom become will become the second-largest country in Europe with it overtaking France in 2030, before overtaking Germany to become Europe’s largest country 17 years later.
If it decides to leave, Britain will no longer be bound by the bloc’s rules on freedom of movement, which would likely have an effect on its population growth.
Goodwin added that the population will also be older, as those born shortly after World War Two and during the 1960s baby-boom reach the oldest and pensionable ages respectively. The Office for National Statistics is assuming that net migration will run at nearly 200,000 a year over that period.
“There are fewer and fewer people working, yet more and more people with their hand out for pensions”.
That would mean the capital’s population, now just over 8.5million, could hit about 11 million by 2039, placing more pressure on housing, schools and transport.
The Government pledged to cut net migration – the difference between those arriving and those emigrating – to “tens of thousands” annually but numbers actually rose to all-time high of 330,000 past year.
Frank Field MP and Sir Nicholas Soames MP, co-chairmen of the Cross-Party Group on Balanced Migration, said in a joint statement: “It is not in the national interest to increase our population so rapidly”.
From 2014 to 2024, the population of the United Kingdom is forecast to increase to 69 million – an increase of 4.4 million.
Lord Green, chairman of campaign group Migration Watch United Kingdom, said: “The prospect of almost 10 million in 25 years underlines the huge impact on housing and public services, unless the Government succeeds in bringing net migration right down”. It is not of benefit to the existing residents of the UK.
Chief executive Simon Ross said: ‘Our natural resources can not sustain indefinitely the number of people in this country or on the planet.
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David Cameron, the Prime Minister, said the figures showed levels of net migration must be addressed, and pledged to take the argument to the European Union.
