<p>Britain will be the most ethnically diverse Western nation after 2050, a study today said, citing a massive influx of immigrants.<br /><br /></p>.<p>A massive influx of immigrants has given Britain the fastest-rising percentage of ethnic minority and foreign-born populations, it said.<br /><br />The report's author says foreigners and non-whites living here will double by 2040 — to make up a third of the UK.<br /><br />He has even controversially claimed white Brits will be a minority by 2066, the Sun tabloid reported.<br /><br />Prof David Coleman said: "On current trends European populations will become more ethnically diverse, with the possibility that today's majority ethnic groups will no longer comprise a numerical majority."<br /><br />By 2040, he said, 37 per cent who live here won't class themselves as white or British.<br />That will put us level with the world's traditional melting pot the US — which we will then overtake.<br /><br />Coleman, professor of demography at Oxford, made his findings from a study of international population projections, carried out for the respected academic outfit Migration Observatory.<br /><br />In the study, minorities are classed as people who also describe themselves in censuses as Irish or another nationality, as well as by their skin colour.<br /><br />Prof Coleman said migration has become the "primary driver of demographic change".<br />Declining birth rates among white Brits is another factor.<br /><br />In England and Wales, 25 per cent of births are from foreign-born mothers, the report said. A similar trend is seen in France and Germany.<br /><br />The calculations are based on the current net rates of immigration, which have been running at more than 200,000 a year.<br /><br />But Prof Coleman said clampdowns on the influx, which the Government is attempting, could "dramatically change" the trend.<br /><br />Immigration campaigners last night raised concerns about newcomers' ability to integrate into society, and their impact on the health and education systems.<br /><br />The UK's population is estimated to hit 77 million by 2051.</p>
<p>Britain will be the most ethnically diverse Western nation after 2050, a study today said, citing a massive influx of immigrants.<br /><br /></p>.<p>A massive influx of immigrants has given Britain the fastest-rising percentage of ethnic minority and foreign-born populations, it said.<br /><br />The report's author says foreigners and non-whites living here will double by 2040 — to make up a third of the UK.<br /><br />He has even controversially claimed white Brits will be a minority by 2066, the Sun tabloid reported.<br /><br />Prof David Coleman said: "On current trends European populations will become more ethnically diverse, with the possibility that today's majority ethnic groups will no longer comprise a numerical majority."<br /><br />By 2040, he said, 37 per cent who live here won't class themselves as white or British.<br />That will put us level with the world's traditional melting pot the US — which we will then overtake.<br /><br />Coleman, professor of demography at Oxford, made his findings from a study of international population projections, carried out for the respected academic outfit Migration Observatory.<br /><br />In the study, minorities are classed as people who also describe themselves in censuses as Irish or another nationality, as well as by their skin colour.<br /><br />Prof Coleman said migration has become the "primary driver of demographic change".<br />Declining birth rates among white Brits is another factor.<br /><br />In England and Wales, 25 per cent of births are from foreign-born mothers, the report said. A similar trend is seen in France and Germany.<br /><br />The calculations are based on the current net rates of immigration, which have been running at more than 200,000 a year.<br /><br />But Prof Coleman said clampdowns on the influx, which the Government is attempting, could "dramatically change" the trend.<br /><br />Immigration campaigners last night raised concerns about newcomers' ability to integrate into society, and their impact on the health and education systems.<br /><br />The UK's population is estimated to hit 77 million by 2051.</p>