According to the latest prediction, Britain's population will exceed 70 million by 2031. The country will be a very different place by then

The causes of the relentless increase over the recent centuries in the UK's population – now projected to pass 70 million within 25 years – are many and varied.

They range from medical advances and growing individual prosperity to greater life expectancy and the waves of immigration.

The UK is now home to almost 61 million people, some 20 million more than a century ago and 50 million more than 1801, with the population growing in 99 of the past 100 years. Predictions that the number would stabilise at between 55 million and 60 million have been torn up and population growth is accelerating again, pushing the issue towards the top of the political agenda.

The rate of increase has even taken Whitehall's statisticians by surprise, with the Office for National Statistics (ONS) yesterday revising its population projections upwards. On current trends, the ONS now forecasts the numbers in Britain will grow to 62.8 million in 2011, 65 million in 2016, 67.2 million in 2021, 69.3 million in 2026 and 71.1 million in 2031, 78.6 million in 2051 and 85.3 million in 2081. That means that the UK's population is now rising by about 400,000 a year.

The face of Britain was transformed in the 19th century by the massive movements of people in the Industrial Revolution, and it will continue changing. Pressure for housing will mean swathes of countryside disappearing under concrete.

The country's demographic make-up is also altering rapidly, with Leicester set to become the first city where whites are in a minority by the end of next decade.

Just over half the population growth is caused by increases in family size – the average woman now has 1.84 children – and by greater life expectancy. Boys and girls born today will live an average of 77.2 years and 81.5 years respectively; that is forecast to rise to 82.7 years and 86.2 years for those born in 2031.

The rest of the growth has been driven by higher-than-expected levels of migration in recent years, with a net annual influx of about 190,000 compared with previous estimates of 145,000. Population increases are predicted for the whole of the UK, although they are expected to be smaller in Scotland than elsewhere.

The figures also confirm that a demographic time bomb is ticking, with the number of people over the state pension age – 11.3 million, and projected to reach 12.2 million in 2010 – for the first time exceeding the number of children.

The ONS stressed yesterday that, rather than making firm forecasts, its projections were based on current trends and that they became less reliable the further they looked into the future. Previous statisticians have got it spectacularly wrong when peering into the crystal ball. When the experts of the 1960s extrapolated the effects of the post-war "baby boom", they concluded that the population would be 75 million by 2007.

But Liam Byrne, the Immigration minister, said: "These projections show what could happen unless we take action now."

He said they underlined the need for "swift and sweeping" changes to the immigration system in the pipeline, including the introduction of an Australian-style points based system for migrants from outside the European Union.

The Tories are calling for annual limits on the numbers of new arrivals admitted into the country. David Davis, the shadow Home Secretary, said: "The shocking acceleration in the rate of population growth makes it more urgent than ever that the Government should introduce a properly controlled immigration system." Rosamund McDougall, of the Optimum Population Trust think-tank, said: "There is no parallel in our history for population growth of this magnitude. It will blow a massive hole in any national climate change strategy, impose huge strains on our infrastructure and environment, seriously damage quality of life and make Britain one of the most crowded and stressful places in the world."

Thailand Tanzania and Latvia

World reaches 7 billion (cat populace not included)

Today, the world's seven billionth person has been born. It is impossible to say exactly where the seven billionth person on the planet has been born or who they are.

So the United Nations have chosen several newborn babies across the world to symbolically represent the global population milestone, including two baby girls Nargis and Danica who were born in India and the Philippines, respectively.

However, the stark reality is that if a baby girl is born in the developing world, her future is set to be far from rosy.

According to a recent report from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) there is a widening gap between boys and girls in these regions of the world.

While they receive the same care and opportunities during early childhood, as they reach adolescence the anomalies in terms of health or education become marked.

“While there is little difference between boys and girls in early childhood with respect to nutrition, health, education and other basic indicators, differences by gender appear increasingly more pronounced during adolescence and young adulthood,” said UNICEF deputy executive director Geeta Rao Gupta.

If the seven billionth child born was a girl in the developed world, for instance in Europe, Japan or the United States, once she becomes a teenager she is likely to receive many of the same opportunities as her male peers.

Her education, health and career prospects may even exceed those of her male counterparts.

But if she is born in a region defined as ‘developing’ she is significantly more likely to be married as a child, less likely to be literate than young men in her country and, shockingly, should she be born in sub-Saharan Africa, is as many as four times more likely to contract HIV/AIDS than boys her age.

A World Bank working paper examined the real economic impact of excluding girls from learning or work opportunities.

For instance, just one teenage mother in India can lose $100,000 (£62,052) in potential income over her lifetime, while a single girl in Ethiopia who has dropped out of school can expect to lose the equivalent of two months’ average pay per year.

The financial impacts on the national economies is bigger still: the cost to India of the 3.8 million girls having children at the ages of 15 to 19 is $7.6 billion a year (£4.7 billion) – enough to fill every single car in the US with a full tank of petrol 100 times.

The denial of education to 4.5 million girls in Ethiopia costs the country $582 million (£361 million) a year.

So beyond the headlines about the seven billionth birth – which will come 12 years after the six billionth, a baby boy in Sarajevo – UNICEF chiefs are urging developing countries to improve the education prospects of their female citizens.

Increasing the availability of good and long-term schooling for girls will have a ‘ripple effect’ and help to break the cycle of poverty in those regions.

“Closing gender gaps in all stages of childhood and eliminating gender discrimination – whether against girls or boys – are fundamental to inclusive and sustained progress for countries around the world,” said Rao Gupta.

“In addition to the harmful and often tragic effects of gender inequalities on children themselves, the kinds of persistent inequalities that we continue to see… are major barriers to the efforts of many nations to move out of long-term poverty and achieve their development aspirations.”

Guess I must have taken this by accident
when I was asleep during the talk

Guess who parked the one on the left...

Don't worry, we left the window slightly open

Luckily Bealing was equipped for a cave
environment, having TM07 Flash as his only move