More people died than were born in the UK last year as the Covid pandemic ripped through the country, new figures show.
For the first time in nearly half a century, more deaths than births took place in the UK.
In 2020, a total of 689,629 deaths were registered.
A lower number of 683,191 births were recorded – making difference between the amount of deaths and births stand at 6,438.
It is the first time there were more deaths than births in the UK in 45 years since 1976, according to the Office for National Statistics.
It is only the second time this has happened since the start of the 20th century, which is down to the coronavirus pandemic, officials have said.
The Office for National Statistics also said the pandemic meant that more deaths were registered in the UK in 2020 than in any year since the First World War.
The increase in deaths and decrease in births caused the rate of natural change to be negative.
However, the Office for National Statistics said that migration may have led to an overall growth in numbers, due to more people moving into the country than leaving it.
The Office for National Statistics says this does not mean the total population size of the UK declined last year.
The latest estimate for the UK population is 67.1 million as of mid-2020, up by 284,000 or 0.4% from 66.8 million in mid-2019.
It comes as the UK reported 28,773 new cases of coronavirus - the highest figure on a Tuesday since late January - and a further 37 deaths in the latest 24-hour period.
