You asked
Please can you clarify if the UK Population figures as found on the ONS website are taken at the beginning or end of the given year?
Please also clarify how the Net Migration and Natural Changes figures should relate i.e. should the totals of these match up each year? Please can you help me understand/correct for this variance in these figures?
We said
Thank you for your enquiry about population statistics.
The Overview of the UK: July 2017 (published 21 July 2017) presents the latest available data for each subject at the time of publication. Because of this, the reference periods for the population estimates, migration and natural change data are different.
The population estimates, which are also available in Population Estimates for UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (published 22 June 2017), are a mid-year estimate and give the population estimate as at 30 June 2016. Migration and natural change data for this reference date (30 June 2016) are available through this release.
The overview of the UK includes more recent net migration and natural change data for the annual period year-ending December 2016.
When accessing any of our files please read the 'notes, terms and conditions' contained within them. If you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact us on pop.info@ons.gov.uk.