UK Population May Have Seen Largest Fall Since World War II, Study Suggests

A man walks past empty bars wearing a face mask in Cardiff, Wales, on Oct. 23, 2020. Matthew Horwood/Getty Images

The total population of Britain could have fallen by more than 1.3 million during the CCP virus pandemic, mostly as a result of an exodus of non-UK born people, new research suggests.

This would be the largest fall in the UK resident population since World War II, according to researchers from the Economic Statistics Centre of Excellence (ESCoE), a UK government-funded think tank that focuses on economic measurement.

More Accurate Estimate

The study’s figures are in stark contrast to those of the Office for National Statistics, which estimated a population rise of about 350,000 for the same period, but doesn’t take into account changes in population growth forecasts caused by the pandemic, the authors say.