What Does The Recent Census Reveal About Immigration And Religion In The United Kingdom

The new statistics are likely to exacerbate the fears of those who see immigration as the source of all current problems in the UK. What story is revealed by the census data? Demographic trends in the country that are likely to have political ramifications through immigration are causing a massive shift in the identity of this country.

According to a press release from the UK's Office of National Statistics (ONS), the UK population in mid-year 2020 was estimated to be 67.1 million, an increase of approximately 284,000 (0.4%) from mid-year 2019.

What are the causes of population growth?

There are only three factors that influence a country's population: birth rate, death rate, and net immigration (that is, net of those entering the country and those leaving it). It is worth noting that net immigration accounted for nearly 87% of the increase in 2019. The ONS estimates that 622,000 people immigrated to the UK while 375,000 emigrated, for net international migration of 247,000.

All of the population growth in 1992 or 1993 was due to the difference between the birth and death rates in the existing population. In fact, net immigration was negative in 1992, meaning that more people left the UK than came in.

However, over the last three decades, natural change (green bars) has become less and less important in determining population growth. The net immigration number has become a more significant factor with each passing year.

What is the evolution of religious identities?

For the first time in an England and Wales census, less than half of the population (46.2%, 27.5 million people) identified as "Christian," a 13.1 percentage point decrease from 59.3% (33.3 million) in 2011.

Despite this decrease, the most common response to the religion question was "Christian." It is worth noting that the religion question in the census is optional. The most notable increase has been in the population identifying as having "No religion."

The Muslim population grew by over a million, making it the second-largest increase. Many other religions, including Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, saw a slight increase.

Edited by Sara Irfan

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