The population of England and Wales saw the biggest annual increase in 75 years because of growth driven by immigration, new estimates suggest.

In the year to mid-2023, the population grew by almost 610,000 to 60.9 million, according to the estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) published on Monday.

This growth was primarily made up by the 1,084,000 people who were estimated to have migrated to England and Wales from outside the UK during that period.

An estimated 462,000 people emigrated from England and Wales, meaning net migration – the difference between the number of people legally arriving in the UK and leaving – totalled 622,000.

By comparison, the “natural change” in the population – the difference between births and deaths – was only 400 in the year to mid-2023 – the lowest figure since the year to mid-1978.

There were an estimated 598,000 deaths in England and Wales in the year to mid-2023, an increase of 24,000 compared with mid-2022.

The number of births in the year to mid-2023 was 598,400, a decrease of 21,900 compared with the year to mid-2022. 

Deaths outnumbered births in the period in 58% of local authorities across England and Wales, the figures indicate.

Ten years ago, in the year to mid-2013, just 26% of local authorities found themselves in the same position.

The largest increases in deaths were in coastal and less urban areas such as Rutland, which saw an increase of 21.7%, and North Devon, 17.9%.

Areas with the highest rates of population growth from mid-2022 to mid-2023 were City of London (17.5%), Cardiff (3.4%), and Preston (3.0%).

Middlesbrough had the highest number of international immigrants as a proportion of its population in the year to mid-2023 (4.6%), as well as Coventry (4.4%), Newham (4.0%), and Leicester (3.6%).

Commenting on the figures, the head of population estimates for the ONS, Neil Park, said: “High levels of international migration seen in recent years are the main driver of population growth.

“But the year to mid-2023 also saw an increased number of deaths, as well as the lowest number of births since 2002.

“In fact, in the most recent year, births outnumbered deaths by just 400, the lowest reported figure for natural change since the late 1970s. And, interestingly, there were more deaths than births in every region, with the exception of London and the West Midlands.”

The last time population growth was as high was the year to mid-1948, 75 years before mid-2023.

In that period, the population estimate for England and Wales increased by 1.5 million because of the return of soldiers following the end of the Second World War in addition to the high number of births.