Latest census figures show that Britain is more ethnically diverse and less religious than it was a decade ago.

The census reveals that resident population of England and Wales on 27th March 2011 was 56.1 million, a seven per cent (3.7 million) increase since 2001. Fifty five per cent (2.1 million) of this increase is due to migration.

Net migration to the UK has fallen significantly to 183,000 from 242,000 the previous year, new figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show.

Inward migration to the UK stood at 536,000 people in the year ending March 2012, which is lower than the 578,000 who immigrated the previous year and the lowest immigration figure since 2004.

The Romanian population living, working and studying in the British Isles at the end of 2012 is estimated to be over 300 thousand and it is expected to increase significantly in the next few years.

Twenty four percent of children born in the UK in 2011 are children of immigrants, an increase of two percentage points since 2007, a new report published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows.

This increase is caused by a 24 per cent rise in the number of women of childbearing age who were born outside the UK, and a fall of five per cent in the number of UK born women of childbearing age since 2007.