Uncontrolled immigration is “killing the UK”, Brexiteer Ben Habib has claimed after new figures suggested the population could hit 72.5 million by mid-2032 – a rise of almost five million.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) projects the rise from 67.6 million in mid-2022 – the most recent data available – will be driven almost entirely by net migration, with the difference between the number of people arriving and leaving estimated to total 4.9 million over the 10-year period.

This is compared to the natural change in population – the difference between births and deaths – projected to be “around zero”.

Former Brexit Party MEP Mr Habib, until recently co-deputy leader of Reform UK, told Express.co.uk: “The kind of immigration we had in the 60s, 70s, 80s, was taking aspirational, well-educated immigrants.

“They came with either academic contribution to make or a monetary or business contribution to make.

“They came to this country because they loved this country and bought into this country.”

However, Mr Habib, who has frequently voiced his concern at the number of people crossing the English Channel, continued: “Now what we’re doing is just taking completely unskilled people, people who hold this country in contempt.

“And we’re putting a protective blanket around them saying, ‘you can practice your culture, practice your values, you don’t have to work we’ll pay you benefits.

“We’re killing the country.”

Migration Watch chairman Alp Mehmet also waded in, saying: “This astonishing increase will be entirely due to immigration and the children of migrants.

“The projections are based on the assumption that net migration will fall to an annual 340,000, from 2029, which is unlikely without radical policy change.”

Mr Mehmet, the former British Ambassador to Iceland, added: “Beside the massive, negative, economic impact, such population increase will lead to a further significant fall in the percentage of the indigenous (white British) population.

“This has already fallen from 95% in 1991 to 75% in 2021. No wonder 71% are now saying immigration has been too high.”

Conservative shadow home secretary Chris Philp described the projection as “shocking and unacceptable”, adding: “It can and must be stopped from materialising” as he called for a “hard, binding legal cap on visas issued each year”.

Richard Tice, Reform UK’s Deputy Leader and MP for Boston and Skegness, told Express.co.uk: “”The housing crisis, strained social services, and the ongoing disaster of the NHS already demonstrate that we are incapable of managing the levels of migration experienced over the past decade

“If the British government truly cared about its people, this issue would never have been allowed to spiral out of control.”

He warned: “This crisis is unsustainable. It is eroding the quality of British life while placing immense pressure on our culture and economy. It is clear that only Reform UK takes immigration seriously. With Reform UK in government, we will deliver net-zero migration and prioritise British freedoms and prosperity above all else.”

The data, published on Tuesday, assumes the level of net migration will average 340,000 a year from mid-2028 onwards, lower than current levels.

The number of births compared to the number of deaths across the period is estimated to be almost identical – 6.8 million.

The estimates mean the overall UK population is projected to rise by 7.3% between mid-2022 and mid-2032, compared with an increase of 6.1% over the previous 10 years.

Commenting after the release of the figures, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer rejected setting an “arbitrary” cap to cut what he acknowledged were”staggeringly high” migration levels.

The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “We’re going to publish a White Paper to set out a comprehensive plan to end these staggeringly high migration numbers.

“As the Prime Minister has previously said, we had a supposed cap in place before and it didn’t have any meaningful impact on reducing immigration.

“So he doesn’t think that setting an arbitrary cap, as previous governments have done, is the best way forward in terms of significantly reducing migration.”