The 2001 census showed that for the first time there are more people over 60 than there are children. Having been static in the 1970s overall population has begun to grow again. The rate of increase is in line with other European countries, but significantly slower than the US or Australia.
The total population of the UK rose by 17 per cent from 50.2 million on census day 1951 to 58.8 million on census day 2001.
The majority of the increase to the population of the UK from 1951 to 2001 has been due to natural change - the number of births has exceeded the number of deaths. During the 1950s and 1960s, the UK population grew by 5.6 million and nearly all of this was accounted for by natural change. In the 1970s the UK population remained virtually static due to declining birth rates. During the 1980s and 1990s the population grew by 2.4 million and natural change was again the most important factor, though since the late 1990s migration has been the main cause of growth.
As well as increasing in size, the UK population is now also older overall than it was in 1951. While the proportion of the population aged under 16 has decreased to 20 per cent from 24 per cent on census day 1951, the proportion of the population aged 60 and over has increased to 21 per cent from 16 per cent on census day 1951. Thus, for the first time ever there are more people aged over 60 than there are children. This ageing of the population reflects longer life expectancy due to improvements in living standards and health care. It also reflects the fact that there have not been any events with a corresponding effect on life expectancy like that of the first and second world wars.
The ageing of the UK population is particularly evident when the number of people aged 85 and over is considered. On census day 1951, there were 0.2 million people aged 85 and over (0.4 per cent of the total population) in the UK. By census day 2001, this had grown to just over 1.1 million (1.9 per cent of the total population).
The rate of growth over this period is comparable with a number of European countries (Austria 17 per cent; Belgium 19 per cent; Germany 20 per cent) though it is slightly more modest than the EU average (23 per cent). It is also more modest than the growth in some other countries around the world (USA 80 per cent; Australia 133 per cent).
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