Britain is Europe's fastest growing country as population rises by 400,000 in just ONE year... and more than a third of the rise is down to immigration

One third of the increase was down to immigrants but the other cause is that 243,900 more babies were born last year than people died

The number of live births in Britain was 813,000 in 2012, the second highest number in Europe - only beaten by France where 822,000 babies were born

The figures bring the UK's total population to 63,888,000

Britain’s population is soaring by more than any other country in the European Union and a third of the increase is caused by immigration.



The latest figures from Eurostat show that the number of people in the UK rose by almost three times the EU average in 2012 with 392,000 more than the year before – putting the total population at 63.888million.



More than a third of that increase – 38 per cent or 148,700 people – was down to immigration. The rest was ‘natural change’, with 243,900 more people being born than having died.



Getting crowded: Britain is already the most densely populated country in Europe - the population now stands at 63,888,000

The number of live births in Britain was 813,000 in 2012, the second highest number in Europe, to France where 822,000 were born. And in Germany, the number of people dying in 2012 outnumbered births by almost 200,000.

ADAM AFRIYIE CAMPAIGN FAILS

Tory rebel Adam Afriyie’s attempts to bring forward a referendum on EU membership ended in humiliation yesterday when just 15 MPs voted for it.

His amendment would have forced Britons to the polls on the issue next year – instead of the 2017 date preferred by David Cameron.

The millionaire Windsor MP, who ignored a letter from 140 Tory MPs urging him to drop the move, said his defeat would help UKIP.

He now backs a 2017 poll suggested in a Bill by Tory backbencher James Wharton – and supported by the Prime Minister.

The figures bring the UK's total population to 63,888,000.



This very high birth rate does much account for the population growth which is almost three times the EU average.



Simon Ross, chief executive of campaign group Population Matters, said the figures represented a growing problem especially given that Britain is already the Europe's most densely populated country.



He said: ' England is already Europe’s most densely populated country. Why should we also have Europe’s highest population growth rate? More people make things worse,

'If we are serious about tackling the many issues we face as a society, we need to address one of the principal underlying causes, which is population growth.'

The second fastest growing EU country is France with 305,500 more people in 2012, 82 per cent of which were accounted for by a rise in births - their total population now stands at 65,633,200.



Rising tensions: Coverage of groups of Romanians camping in London's parks provoked fresh debate over the role of immigrants in what many feel is already and overcrowded country

While immigration is a major political controversy in Britain, the increase in population caused by new immigrants arriving of just under 149,000 was less than half of the immigrants entering Germany, 391,000 and in Italy, 369,00.



Many point out that without immigration, the EU’s total population would be stagnant or in decline - it grew by just over one million people in 2012, 882,000 of whom were migrants.



One cause for continued migration is the economic crisis in the eurozone which has led to a contraction in the population of some countries as the young and unemployed move elsewhere to improve their chances in life.



Emigration was highest in Ireland during 2012, where 35,000 people left the country.

