The information requested falls within the reasonability of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 4 February 2008:
As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question asking what the Government's official estimate of the population of the United Kingdom was in each year since 1980. (178266)
The attached Table 1 shows the population of the United Kingdom for the years requested.
The latest population estimates available are mid-2006.
Thousand 1980 56,330 1981 56,357 1982 56,291 1983 56,316 1984 56,409 1985 56,554 1986 56,684 1987 56,804 1988 56,916 1989 57,076 1990 57,237 1991 57,439 1992 57,585 1993 57,714 1994 57,862 1995 58,025 1996 58,164 1997 58,314 1998 58,475 1999 58,684 2000 58,886 2001 59,113 2002 59,323 2003 59,557 2004 59,846 2005 60,238 2006 60,587 Sources: 1. Office for National Statistics. 2. General Register Office for Scotland and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency.