If you’re feeling that it’s hard to escape the relentless crush of people in London and across England – you’re not alone.
Figures out today show that England is now officially the most densely populated country in Europe (excluding Malta), taking the title from Belgium and the Netherlands.
England has 402.1 people per square kilometre, double that of Italy (199.9 people per sq km) and way ahead of Scotland (67 people per sq km).
And, another batch of figures out today show that migration to the UK rose in the 12 months to June 2010 to 196,000, up by 33,000 from the previous year. Alhtough 4 per cent fewer arrived, 13 per cent fewer people left the country.
Contributing to the fall in arrivals was a decrease in the number of working visas in the Tier 1 highly skilled visa and Tier 2 sponsorship by an employer visa categories. This is due partly to the recession, and also because of the introduction of the stricter points-based system for assessing visa applications.
But the number of student visas issued increased by 37 per cent.
