Population estimates for England and Wales: mid-2025

The population of England and Wales continued to grow in the year to mid-2025, reaching an estimated 62.0 million people. The size of the population is estimated to have increased by 224,900 (0.4%) from mid-2024, the lowest rate of increase since mid-2020. This was primarily because of a fall in international net migration, but natural change (births minus deaths) was also slightly lower in the year to mid-2025.

Figure 1: The size of the population in England and Wales continues to grow

Annual population change, mid-1949 to mid-2025, England and Wales

Migration

The number of people immigrating to England and Wales from outside the UK decreased in the year to mid-2025, compared with the previous year. The number of people emigrating from England and Wales to outside the UK increased in the same period. This led to an overall decrease in net international migration compared with the previous year.

We estimate that in the year to mid-2025:

• 816,500 people immigrated to England and Wales from outside the UK (down from 1,197,500 in the year to mid-2024)

• 604,800 people emigrated from England and Wales to another country outside the UK (up from 584,900 in the year to mid-2024)

• net international migration to England and Wales was 211,700 (down from 612,500 in the year to mid-2024)

Our Long-term international migration (LTIM), provisional: year ending December 2025 bulletin explains how, at the UK level, the main reason for the fall in net migration was because of fewer non-EU+ nationals arriving for work-related reasons.

We estimate that there were 5,900 net internal moves out of England and Wales to the rest of the UK in the year to mid-2025.

Births and deaths

There was a decrease in the number of births and deaths in the year to mid-2025, compared with the previous year.

We estimate that:

• there were 588,000 births, a decrease of 8,000 compared with mid-2024, and the fewest since mid-1978

• there were 568,400 deaths, a decrease of 2,300 compared with mid-2024, and the fewest since mid-2019 before the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

• natural change, the difference between births and deaths, contributed an annual increase in the population of 19,600

These estimates differ slightly to other Office for National Statistics (ONS) birth and death statistics, which are reported by calendar year.

View recent population trends for local areas with our new interactive tool in Section 6: Local authorities.

Although estimated net international migration was lower in the year to mid-2025 compared with the previous year, it continued to contribute the most to population growth.

Figure 2: Population growth in mid-2025 resulted mostly from net international migration

Components of population change, year to mid-2025, England and Wales

Notes

1. “Other changes” are changes in armed forces personnel and dependants.

Important information on using population estimates

Mid-year population estimates are produced using the cohort component method. This is a standard demographic method that estimates the size of the population using the components of population change to update a population base (in this case, using census estimates). A major strength of this method is that it is consistent over time and across geographical areas, and the components of population change are coherent with the resulting estimates.

However, a limitation of the methods used to produce population estimates is that they are subject to statistical uncertainty related to:

• the measurement of the census base they are rolled forward from

• the measurement of each component of population change

Statistical uncertainty is lowest immediately following a census, and greatest immediately before the next census. This is because errors accumulate over time as estimates are rolled forward onto the following year.

In general, the degree of uncertainty is higher for smaller geographies. More information can be found in our Local authority quality of population estimates for England and Wales report. Uncertainty is also greater for estimates with narrower bands of interest, such as estimates broken down by age and/or sex.

Data sources we use for the components of change are the best available at the time, that are also nationally consistent down to local authority level. Population estimates are produced using these components of change and are subject to the coverage and error associated with these sources.

Population estimates for mid-2022 onwards are subject to regular revision as the methods and data used to estimate international and internal migration continue to be developed. This means the figures in this bulletin might be different from previous and future releases.

Information on revisions can be found in Section 7: Revisions to population data.

Population estimates based on Census 2021 could also be affected by the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. More information can be found in our Effect of the coronavirus pandemic on the quality of mid-year population estimates for England and Wales report.

More information on uncertainty can be found in our Population estimates for England and Wales quality and methods guide.

In our previous Population estimates for England and Wales: mid-2024 bulletin, we stated our intention for modelled admin-based population estimates (ABPEs) to become the official estimates of the population in 2026. This is no longer our aim. Instead, we will make iterative improvements to the data and methods that underpin the components of population change. These improvements will focus on internal migration and disaggregation of LTIM estimates to local authority level.

You can use these statistics:

• for planning and monitoring service delivery, resource allocation, and managing the economy

• as denominators for rates or ratios, for example, in health and economic indicators

With these statistics, you cannot:

• add the most recent estimates to a time series from previous releases; the full time series associated with this release should be used

• use them in conjunction with our mid-2025 provisional UK estimates, and estimates for Scotland, to find the mid-2025 population estimates for Northern Ireland

These estimates are subject to statistical uncertainty, so small differences between areas or over time should be interpreted with caution, particularly for smaller geographies and detailed age-sex breakdowns.

These estimates will be revised in future releases as population estimates methods and data are improved, and once estimates from Census 2031 (England and Wales) are available. More information on improving estimates can be found in our Improving population estimates for England and Wales article.

The population of England and Wales has increased each year since mid-1982. The greatest percentage increase over this period (1.4%) was in the year to mid-2023. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic led to smaller population increases in the years ending mid-2020 and mid-2021.

Figure 3: Net migration has contributed most to population growth over the last 26 years

Components of population change, mid-1972 to mid-2025, England and Wales

Notes

1. “Net-migration and other” includes international and internal migration, changes in armed forces personnel and dependants, and unattributable population change.

Since mid-1999, migration has contributed the most to population growth. Before this, population growth was mainly caused by natural change. At the country level, migration includes people moving to or from non-UK countries, people moving between UK countries, and changes in armed forces and dependants.

International migration is by far the largest component of migration. Lower levels of net migration in the year to mid-2020 are because of travel restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic. Net migration had remained relatively unchanged for three years before the pandemic period.

Overall, births have declined since mid-2012, except for brief increases in the years ending mid-2016 and mid-2022. Over the same period, deaths have generally increased, despite some annual decreases, including a 0.4% decrease in deaths in the latest year to mid-2025. The increasing number of deaths reflects the growing size of the population and the increasing number of older people.

The population of England was 58,834,800 in mid-2025, and the population of Wales was 3,175,200. There was population growth in England for the year to mid-2025. There was a small decrease in population in Wales, the first decrease since mid-2015. This resulted in:

• an increase of 227,600 people (0.4%) in England
• a decrease of 2,800 people (negative 0.1%) in Wales

Figure 4: For both England and Wales, the highest rate of population growth for over 50 years was in the year to mid-2023

Population change, mid-1972 to mid-2025, England, Wales

For mid-2025, following three consecutive years of high population growth, the rate of population growth in England fell to a similar level to mid-2021.

Contributors to population change

In England, net international migration was the main contributor to population growth in the year to mid-2025. Natural change (births minus deaths) also contributed to population growth, but to a lesser extent. Internal migration resulted in a net outflow of people from England to the rest of the UK.

For Wales, the largest contributor to the decrease in population was natural change (births minus deaths). International migration and internal migration both added to the population of Wales in mid-2025, but only partially offset the decrease in population from natural change.

Age composition

The median (average) age in Wales is higher than in England. Over the last decade, the median age has increased by similar amounts in both countries, reaching 40.6 years in England, and 43.2 years in Wales, in mid-2025.

The age structure of the population is determined by the patterns of births, deaths and migration in previous years. The size of population cohorts at different ages varies.

Figure 5: Age structure of the UK population, mid-2011 to mid-2025

Ageing population in England and Wales

The number of people aged 65 years and over in England increased by 216,200 (2.0%) in the year to mid-2025, accounting for 19.1% of the total population, compared with 16.4% in mid-2011.

The number of people aged 65 years and over in Wales increased by 10,800 (1.6%) in the year to mid-2025, accounting for 22.2% of the total population, compared with 18.5% of the population in mid-2011.

Population aged 16 to 64 years

The number of people aged 16 to 64 years increased in England by 104,600 (0.3%), and decreased in Wales by 4,800 (0.2%), in the year to mid-2025.

This age group represented 63.0% of the population in England, and 61.0% of the population in Wales, in the year to mid-2025.

Fewer children in the year to mid-2025

The number of people aged 15 years and under decreased in both countries, by 93,200 (0.9%) in England, and by 8,700 (1.6%) in Wales.

Children made up 17.9% of the population in England, and 16.5% of the population in Wales, in the year to mid-2025.

Old-age-dependency ratio

Dependency ratios are used to inform government financial planning. The old-age-dependency ratio (OADR) is the number of people of pensionable age for every 1,000 people of working age.

In the year to mid-2025, the OADR was 283 for England and Wales overall. For England, the OADR was 280, and for Wales, it was 336.

Estimates of the very old

Published alongside the mid-year estimates is our Estimates of the very old, including centenarians, England and Wales: 2002 to 2025. There were 15,172 centenarians (people aged 100 years and over) in England and Wales in 2025, an increase of 21.6% since 2015. There were 709 people aged 105 years and over in England and Wales in 2025, an increase of 34.0% since mid-2024. This growth is explained by the large generation born after World War One (born 1919 to 1920) reaching age 105 years.

Population by sex

In England, there were an estimated 30.0 million females and 28.8 million males in the year to mid-2025, with the number of males increasing at a slightly faster rate than females since mid-2024 (0.4% and 0.3%, respectively). The changes in England were largely influenced by:

• net international migration, which was 27,200 higher for males than for females
• births, which were 14,600 higher for males than for females; it is normal to have roughly 105 male births for every 100 females, and this is the case for births in the year to mid-2025

In Wales, there were an estimated 1.62 million females and 1.55 million males, in the year to mid-2025. There was a small decrease in the total population of Wales by 2,800 compared with the previous year, an estimated decrease of 1,000 females and 1,800 males. The changes in Wales were largely influenced by:

• net international migration, where there were more females than males migrating from other countries in the UK, but fewer females than males migrating from outside of the UK

• deaths, which were 9,200 higher than births, with natural change (births minus deaths) being approximately the same for both males and females, at negative 4,600

All regions in England, except for London, had population growth in the year to mid-2025, with increases ranging between 0.28% and 0.74%. The North West had the highest rate of population growth, caused primarily by international migration and migration from other areas of the UK.

Although London had positive natural change (more births than deaths) and net international inward migration, this was more than offset by net outward migration to other areas of the UK. As a result, London's population decreased by 0.29% in the year to mid-2025, the first decrease since the year to mid-2021.

In the year to mid-2025, there were more births than deaths (positive natural change) in London, the West Midlands and the East of England. The other regions had negative natural change, which reflects a long-term decline in fertility and an increasing number of deaths because of the growing proportion of older people.

Figure 6: The North West had the highest rate of population growth, London had a decreasing population

Rate of population change by component, regions of England, year to mid-2025

Notes

1. Rates are expressed as negative where their impact reduces the population size.
2. Changes to "special populations" and "other changes" are not included. These components contributed minimally to population change at the national level in the year to mid-2025. Full details can be found in the accompanying data tables.

The size of the population increased in 75% of all local authorities in the year to mid-2025 (240 out of 318 areas). This is noticeably lower than in each of the previous three years, where 94% or more local authorities had an increase in population.

The local authority with the highest annual population growth was Rugby (2.4%), whereas the Isles of Scilly (negative 3.5%) and Camden (negative 1.8%) had the greatest rates of population decline (Table 1).

The Isles of Scilly has a very small population, which can often lead to outlying results.

Use our new interactive tool to view the latest population trends for your local area

Revisions to population estimates for mid-2022, mid-2023 and mid-2024, England and Wales

Revisions have been made to mid-2022, mid-2023, and mid-2024 population estimates to incorporate improved international migration data.

We have used the latest long-term international migration estimates, which were published in May 2026.

The total population estimates for England and Wales have been revised to:

• 60,322,400 in mid-2022, an increase of 43,800 (0.07%)
• 61,155,900 in mid-2023, an increase of 56,000 (0.09%)
• 61,785,000 in mid-2024, a decrease of 21,600 (negative 0.03%)

These revisions fall within the confidence intervals for the pre-revised estimates.

Estimates for males and females have changed:

• the number of females is now 17,300 (0.06%) higher in mid-2022, 28,500 (0.09%) higher in mid-2023, and 3,900 (0.01%) lower in mid-2024

• the number of males is now 26,500 (0.09%) higher in mid-2022, 27,500 (0.09%) higher in mid-2023, and 17,700 (0.06%) lower in mid-2024

By age group, the most notable revision changes are the decreases in those aged under 16 years:

• 40,800 (0.37%) lower for mid-2022, 89,700 (0.8%) lower for mid-2023, and 139,000 (1.23%) lower for mid-2024

By country, revised estimates for:

• England are 45,300 (0.08%) higher for mid-2022, 58,300 (0.1%) higher for mid-2023, and 12,900 (0.02%) lower for mid-2024

• Wales are 1,500 (0.05%) lower for mid-2022, 2,300 (0.07%) lower for mid-2023, and 8,600 (0.27%) lower for mid-2024

Local authority population estimates revisions

The impact of the revisions varies by local authority:

• for mid-2022, the population in 20 local authorities was revised up by more than 0.5%, with none revised down by more than 0.5%

• for mid-2023, the population in 27 local authorities was revised up by more than 0.5%, with none revised down by more than 0.5%

• for mid-2024, the population in 27 local authorities was revised up by more than 0.5%, with 20 revised down by more than 0.5%

• revised estimates almost exclusively fall within the uncertainty ranges of the unrevised estimates; the single exception is Boston for mid-2023, where the revised estimate is 152 higher than the upper interval of the unrevised estimate

Further information on the impact of revisions is available in our accompanying datasets and in our Analysis of population estimates for UK tool. Using our analysis tool, you can explore the full impact of revisions for each area broken down by internal and international migration flows, single year of age, and sex.

Figure 7: Revisions to mid-2024 local authority population estimates are larger for children than for adults

Percentage change, revised population estimates, local authorities in England and Wales by age group, mid-2024

Notes

1. Isles of Scilly and City of London are not included in this chart because they have very small populations, which can often lead to outlying results.

Components of change

Components of change are the factors that contribute to population change. This includes births and deaths (commonly referred to as natural change) and net migration. Migration includes movements of people between England and Wales and the various countries of the world (international migration), and between local authority areas within the UK (internal migration).

Internal migration

Describes moves made between local authorities, regions, or countries within the UK. Unlike international migration, there is no internationally agreed definition.

International migration

We use the United Nations (UN) recommended definition of a long-term international migrant: "a person who moves to a country other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at least a year (12 months), so that the country of destination effectively becomes his or her new country of usual residence."

Net international migration is the difference between the number of people moving into and out of England and Wales from outside the UK.

EU+ migration refers to the migration of people who hold EU nationality. Non-EU+ is the sum of the rest of the world, including the rest of Europe, not included in the EU+ category. British nationals are excluded from these numbers. More information is available in our Long-term international migration, provisional: year ending December 2025 bulletin.

Median age

The age of the person in the middle of the group, such that one half of the group is younger than that person, and the other half is older.

Mid-year population estimates

Population estimates produced using the cohort component method. This is a standard demographic method that estimates the size of the population using the components of population change to update a population base. These are accredited official statistics.

Natural change

The difference between births and deaths. If natural change is greater than zero, then there have been more births than deaths. If natural change is negative, then there have been more deaths than births.

Net migration

The difference between the number of people coming to live in an area (immigration), and the number of people leaving to live elsewhere (emigration). When more people are coming to the area than leaving, net migration is above zero and so adds to the population. Net migration takes account of both international and internal migration.

Old-age-dependency ratio

The number of people of pensionable age (state pension age and over) for every 1,000 people of working age (aged 16 years and over but below state pension age). 

Rate of population change by component

We use these rates to compare how the different components of population change have contributed to changes in the size of the population in different areas. Rates for mid-2025 are calculated by dividing the estimated number of events for each component in the year to mid-2025 by the mid-2024 population estimate. We then multiply this figure by 100 to present the rate per 100 population.

The annual percentage change in the size of the population is the sum of all rates of change for each component. Figures may not sum exactly because of rounding.

Usually resident population

These data estimate the "usually resident population". This is the standard United Nations definition as outlined in the Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses (PDF, 3.76MB). It includes only people who reside in a country for 12 months or more, making them usually resident in that country. Visitors and short-term migrants are excluded.

Population estimates for Scotland and Northern Ireland are available from other statistics producers. These estimates are highly comparable with the Office for National Statistics's (ONS's) population estimates for England and Wales but follow different release schedules. These estimates will be incorporated into our UK release later in the year when updated estimates are available.

Accredited official statistics

These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in March 2017. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled "accredited official statistics".