THE TELEGRAPH: Britain will be the biggest country in Europe by 2050, overtaking both France and Germany, according to official projections.
Britain will see its population swell from today's 62.2 million to 77 million, an increase of 24 per cent.
This will make it bigger than France, projected to be 70 million and Germany, which is predicted to have 71.5 million citizens.
The forecasts come form the Population Reference Bureau, a US body which supplies data to governments and institutions around the world.
The predictions suggest that Britain will see its population increase over the next 40 years at a far faster rate than nearly every other European country. The extra 15 million equates to the combined populations of Glasgow, Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Liverpool being added to the total national population over the next two generations.
Britain's population has started to climb sharply in recent years. Last year the Office for National Statistics indicated that mothers had more children than at any time since 1973.
Immigrant mothers accounted for more than half of the increase in births, but the fertility rate among British-born women also rose sharply. >>> Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Editor | Thursday, July 29, 2010
