Population Growth in English Cities Fuelled Almost Entirely By Mass Immigration

New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that up to 98 per cent of the population growth in some English cities over the last decade can be attributed to mass immigration.

The Birmingham Mail newspaper reports that, in its own city, some 58 per cent of population growth between 2007 and 2016 was fuelled by migration.

136,357 people moved to the city from overseas, while some 76,000 people left for a new life elsewhere – part of the ‘white flight’ phenomenon which has recently been observed in the United Kingdom and other Western nations.

Coventry, meanwhile, has experienced the most remarkable demographic shift, with an extra 52,782 people in the city compared to 2006 and 98 per cent of that growth being attributed to immigration.

The immigration statistics were revealed at the same time as separate figures showing that 28.2 per cent of all live births in England and Wales are to mothers born abroad.

The figure for births to mothers born in the UK but from an immigration background was not disclosed but is presumably significant, given the higher birth rate in migrant and migrant-descended communities relative to the general population.

Migration had already rendered London a so-called “plural city” by the time the 2011 census was taken, with White British residents not a majority in 23 of London’s 33 boroughs.

Outside the capital, White British have also lost their majority status in Leicester, Luton and Slough.

In 2007, researchers at the University of Manchester projected that Birmingham would flip by 2024 – but they also expected that Leicester would not flip until 2019, suggesting that changes to the country’s demographics are taking place at an accelerated and unexpected pace.

Gross immigration hit an all-time high of 650,000 in 2015 – although this included 77,000 returning Britons – suggesting that the Tory government’s longstanding pledge to reduce the annual inflow to “tens of thousands” remains some way off being met.

Follow Jack Montgomery on Twitter: @JackBMontgomery