UK population exceeds that of France for first time on record, ONS data shows

29 comments

1. >ONS figures show the population was 68.3 million in mid-2023, surpassing France’s 68.2 million, a figure published by Insee, the French equivalent to the ONS.

2. France is 126% larger than us. We are definitely overcrowded in certain parts of the UK.

3. And will continue to exceed as the exodus continues to move across the water

4. Problem is investment in infrastructure has failed to keep pace for decades

5. (slaps top of country)

   Yup, this baby can fit another 20 million migrants.

6. There’s no other solution than to concrete over the entire countryside. It must be done.

7. 1800 – 10.5m
   1900 – 41m
   1950 – 50m
   2000 – 58m

   2025 – 68m

8. I’m sure exploding population is what the electorate has voted for🧐

9. This is what we’ve been waiting for boys. To the boats!

10. We’re done for and will end up living in rabbit hutches.

11. I genuinely can’t remember a time when every single activity I wanted to do wasn’t busy. Roads are congested. Hospitals overrun. Town centres packed. Mountain walks impassable. Parks and outdoor spaces heaving. Coffee shop queues out the door. Restaurants overbooked.

    I spend most weekends now racking my brain for an activity that nobody else will have thought of. Or having to go out at 7am before everyone else wakes up to enjoy a moments peace and calm.

12. Unless we are going to war with France can we stop bringing in people now!

13. Just because you can fit the entire population of the planet on the Isle of Wight, doesn’t mean you should, or it would be acceptable or pleasant. It doesn’t matter that we have lots of rural space, we like it like that. We have enough urban sprawl. There’s a ton of the rest of the world that has a lot more undeveloped land. Ironically, the Middle East and Africa for example.

14. I’ve heard we have more than enough good roads, trains, doctors surgeries and high quality housing to go around. Plus the EV transition will be no problem because there is just so much space everywhere for our surplus chargers.

    I say we need another 70 million. And preferably not from the EU please. They’re a little bit too culturally aligned. I don’t want them bringing their foreign muck over like their cheeses, salamis and fine wines.

15. Look at the size of France – how anyone could think this is sustainable is either thick as shit or not coming from a position of good faith.

16. It’s really interesting how much immigration varies across the UK, because the report for us in Northern Ireland shows our population is only going to increase until 2033 and then start declining, whereas England, Scotland and Wales is a higher percentage increase and for much longer.

    We’re just getting old and no one’s moving here to NI really, which is not the case in the rest of the UK, or the Republic of Ireland.

    [the article](https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/ce9nr7e977jo)

17. Even 200m British people with the right infrastructure would be fine.

    72 million where 10m are not British and we don’t have enough housing or infrastructure is not fine

18. Our country has its own moat, but the drawbridge is down.

19. The UK v France population doesn’t look accurate…Wikipedia says that in 1939 the pop of UK was 47m, and the French population 41m. I’m pretty sure we overtook France in the 19th century, and they only pulled ahead again after Les Trente Glorieuses

20. The time has come to rebuild the Angevin Empire /s

21. Here before all the comments are deleted yet again

22. I’m all for controlling and reducing immigration but some of the messages here are clearly just those who hate immigrants entirely and want to use this as an excuse to promote their hateful idealogy.

    The hysterical and hyperbolic posts are both funny and worrying. I’d imagine most are council dwellings with families with 6+ kids all claiming benefits complaining the country is crowded because the council wont give them the 6 bedroom mansion to live in for free.
    , cause immigrants. Or their lack of effort with education has left them struggling for jobs and just blame immigrants taking them rather than them simply not being qualified.

    Even without immigration the population would still increase and get to a point of “overcrowded” – what then? Birth regulatory control just as China once did if it comes to it. Brexit and Tories led to this huge increase spike of immigration. It’ll just have to be controlled and regulated here on from.

    London is the only major concern with housing costs but I’d argue that was more to do with it being a centralised hub of the UK. There should be a more devolution of London spreading wealth and opportunities with incentives for companies to start up and move to other cities and regions. London and greater London is the only place that you could consider over populated with high housing cost but this would be an issue with or with immigration. If it weren’t immigrants moving to London it would be others from the UK migrating to the London cause a further divide of wealth from London and the rest of the UK.

23. We’ve had a higher population for years lol, that’s not a secret

24. Clearly we’ll over populated. France is fuckin huge in comparison.

25. Can we please start diverting people to Wales and Scotland? Would benefit everyone.

    I fully accept we couldn’t get people to Northern Ireland even at gunpoint.

26. I doubt I would ever be able to afford or make it work but more and more recently, all I can think of is escaping this country going elsewhere.

    I just had this overwhelming dread that things will be going to absolute shit. I also want to live an in crowded, quiet life and the older I get the further away that gets.

    20 years ago this country was very different

27. Great that means we can continue permanently destroying the countryside every single day at increasingly aggressive rates to house other countries people.

28. the problem is we have high density areas and then nimbys dont want to build ANYWHERE near them, there is so much countryside, and yes it makes our country what it is, but cmon we have loads….like we can build more and maintain green belt land still

29. Be good news if this was caused from the native population copulating and providing more taxpayers, rather than the hordes of low wage migrants.

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