A decade in numbers

Brexit, royal babies and a climate crisis – here is how Britain changed over the past decade in numbers:

3,676,000 – the increase in Britain’s population from 62,760,000 in 2010 to 66,436,000 in mid-2018.

88 – the average pence increase in the cost of a pint of lager, from £2.84 at the start of 2010 to £3.72 at the end of the decade.

65,688 – fewer seizures of Class B drugs such as cannabis by police forces in 2018/19 (109,266) compared with 2010/11 (174,954).

53,940 – increase in people being accepted onto university and higher education courses, from 487,300 in 2010 to 541,240 in 2019.

116.9 – the amount in billions reduced from the deficit since 2010. A £158.3 billion deficit in 2010 has dropped to a £41.4 billion deficit in 2019.

Eight – the number of general elections or large referendums in Great Britain. As well as the 2010, 2015, 2017 and 2019 general elections, voters went to the polls for the 2011 Alternative Vote referendum and the 2016 Brexit vote. Parts of the country also ticked boxes for the 2011 Welsh Devolution referendum and the 2014 vote on Scottish independence.

66,089 – the reduction in the number of live births per year in England and Wales between 2010 (723,165) and 2018 (657,076).

2,837 – people arrested on suspicion of terror offences in Great Britain since September 2009.

143 – medals won by Team GB across five summer and winter Olympics.

20 – the percentage point increase in homes with access to the internet, from 73% of households in 2010 up to 93% in 2019.

2,488 – days Julian Assange spent in the Ecuadorian embassy in London between June 19 2012 and April 11 2019.

28,290 – fewer divorces of opposite-sex couples in 2019 (91,299) compared with 2010 (119,589).

4,100 – million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent (MtCO2e) approximately released into the atmosphere by the UK and Crown Dependencies between 2010 and 2018.

Eight – royal babies born since 2010. The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge had children George, Charlotte and Louis while the Duke and Duchess of Sussex welcomed son Archie. The Princess Royal’s son Peter Phillips became father to daughters Savannah and Isla while his sister Zara Tindall gave birth to Mia Grace and Lena Elizabeth.

9,796 – the number of births registered to same-sex couples since 2010, after the law was changed to recognise same-sex parents in late 2009.

1,169,000 – the reduction in unemployment in people aged 16 and over from 2,475,000 in September 2009 to 1,306,000 in September 2019.

3,600,000 – the approximate number of people who vape in Great Britain in 2019.