UK population is at least 77 million!

amcluesent

It is the statistic that dare not speak its name, though eventually it must. It has huge ramifications for the civil and political life of this country, the health of the equity markets and, most immediately, the residential property market. So don't forget you read it here first: the population of the UK is presently somewhere between 77 and 80 million.

Based on what we eat, one big supermarket chain reckons there are 80 million people living in the UK. A major, non-commercial agricultural institution reckons there are 77 million of us in the UK.

All of which is reflected in strong economic demand and markets see-sawing between optimism over what we all see on the streets (that 77 million figure feels right to me).

As for housing, property magnates and chief executives of housing associations alike say the expanding population means serious demand for the foreseeable future.

mewbie_2

"Based on what we eat, one big supermarket chain reckons there are 80 million people living in the UK. The demand for food is a reliable indicator; as Sir Richard Branson says, you can have all the money in the world but you can only eat onelunch and one dinner."

Er. Not so. And they seem to have forgotten about breakfast. Amclusent - your figures are flawed.

vivatifosi

Plus the fact that there are plenty of people who can and do eat the equivalent of two dinners or two lunches!

ETA: there's also the recent initiative from the government to get us to throw away less food, as something like 30% of perishables go to waste. We're over-buying food as a country, which could lead to an over-estimate in the population.

MRSTITTLEMOUSE

Based on what we eat is just a stupid way to calculate things.
I know some people who are just plain over-indulgent and can consume enough for several people.

nearlynew

If they based it on what we drink, it would be 97 million.

Cleaver

nearlynew wrote: »

If they based it on what we drink, it would be 97 million.

That really made me chuckle. I'm imagining someone from the government counting empty bottles of Carling and WKD and concluding that we have a population to rival America.

ultra10

http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/core/page.do?pageId=566381

This Crazy Marxist Government has created a desperate shortage of homes ...The Irony .. of a so called "Labour" administration ..

Masomnia

I'm yet to be convinced, having read the article.

I'm put off instantly by the classic journalistic fiction as fact thing. 'Facts on a plate'... it's not a fact, it's an estimate by a supermarket. And a supermarket with something to gain at that!

Masomnia

ultra10 wrote: »

http://www.lga.gov.uk/lga/core/page.do?pageId=566381

This Crazy Marxist Government has created a desperate shortage of homes ...The Irony .. of a so called "Labour" administration ..

There is nothing marxist about New Labour. The shortage of social housing is a result of decades of neglect, our current government included, but not exclusively.

thor

So if there are thousands waiting for social housing where are they living now? I don't see millions on the street. Maybe people are finally reversing the trend of demanding a house each and we get families living together again. That is no bad thing in my opinion! Other countries do it so why can't we?

bo_drinker

So does anyone know within a few thousand how many people are here now?? If not it would be a good idea to send some one out and start counting.