UK: Sharp Rise In Number of People Aged 85 And Over

LONDON (Reuters), November 22, 2007: Britain's population grew by 0.6 percent in the year to mid-2006 to a total 60,587,000, while the number of people aged 85 and over grew 10 times as much, according to official figures on November 21. The Office for National Statistics said the number in this age group reached a record 1,243,000, underlining population ageing in Britain. Meanwhile, the number of people aged under 16 decreased by 0.4 percent to 11,537,00. These figures may exacerbate concerns about the rising costs of an ageing population, resulting in an estimated 57 billion-pound savings gap for the UK pensions fund industry. The UK government has stated it wants to raise the state retirement age to 68 by 2046. Migration accounted for 55 percent of population growth as the number of new immigrants continued to dwarf the total leaving the country. However, the net migration total for last year was 189,000, down from 262,000 in 2005, mainly due to a record number of people leaving Britain. The British population has increased by an average of 0.5 percent yearly since 2001. Reporting by Sarah Marsh Editing by Sumeet Desai © Reuters 2007.