UK has more pensioners than kids

There was a stark illustration of Britain's ageing population when figures released yesterday showed that there are 11.58 million pensioners in the country - more than there are children.

The data from the Office of National Statistics showed that there were 11.52 million under-16s, 60,000 less than the number of men over 65 and women over 60. The country's population also reached a record 61 million.

Over-80s have become the fastest growing age group in the country; thanks to advances in medical technology, they now number 2.7 million, twice the total of 30 years ago.

As life expectancy has increased, so the death rate is falling, with 571,000 deaths recorded last year, down 28,000 year-on-year.

Demographically and poltically, the figures are a time-bomb, as they point to a future where an ageing native population will be dependant on a younger generation which will have to be swelled by increasing numbers of immigrants.

Already the number of babies born to foreign-born mothers has grown to a quarter of the total of births. There is also the matter of funding pensioners, with increases in the age at which the State Pension can be claimed pencilled in over the next 40 years to take the retirement age to 68 for both sexes by 2050.