One in four UK babies born to a foreign parent

One in four babies born in the UK has a foreign mother or father, official figures showed yesterday.

Population data for the year to July 2006 showed the proportion of babies born to a foreign parent has risen to 25 per cent compared to under 20 per cent just six years ago.

The startling statistic reflected the impact of recent record levels of immigration on the population.

A spokesman for the Office for National Statistics said: “That reflects the cumulative effect of immigration over the last 40 years.”

Sir Andrew Green, the chairman of Migrationwatch, said over the next 20 years one in three new households will be a result of immigration.

“It is clear from these figures that immigration is continuing unchecked and continues to break all previous records – despite the fact this is opposed by the vast majority of the public,” he added.

Figures from the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) earlier this year showed about six million people living in Britain – one in 10 – was born overseas.

This was far higher than the official figures from the 2001 census, which predated the recent surge in immigration.

Also, the foreign-born population is growing while the British-born population is declining. For almost a century, until the mid-1990s, natural growth was the main driver of population growth.

While there are still more births than deaths, net international migration into the UK has been increasingly important in population change.

The UK population has increased by eight per cent since 1971, from 55,928,000 to 60,587,000.

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