One in five of the population will be from an ethnic minority by the middle of this century, according to a new report.
Researchers concluded that the figure will rocket from the current rate of eight per cent - and that people from minority backgrounds will be living in more affluent areas.
Just one in ten of the population was from an ethnic minority ten years ago.
Population
Packed in: New research suggests the UK's population growth will make it the biggest county in Europe by 2051
Researchers at The University of Leeds also concluded that the population of the UK could reach nearly 80million by the middle of this century.
Higher birth rates and people living longer as well as immigration would pushed the population to 78.8million by 2051.
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The increase - of nearly 20million since 2001 - would be likely to make the UK the largest country in Europe.
Official statisticians have long projected the population would hit 70million by 2029.
But the new estimate, from independent researchers, shows increases potentially continuing into later decades.
Population projections carry a greater degree of uncertainty over longer time periods because different factors influencing its size can change in importance.
The academics produced a range of estimates according to different birth, death and migration rates.
According to the highest projection, the population will reach 78,848,000 in 2051.
The highest figure assumes immigration increasing from current levels - although the coalition government has already put a temporary cap on some forms of migration and plans further reductions.
Of the 78.8million Britons in 2051, some 55million would regard themselves as White Britons - an increase from the current figure of 52.5million.
But measured as a slice of the population, that would represent a fall from more than one in eight to fewer than one in seven.
Numbers of 'other whites' - a category which includes Eastern European migrants - are projected to increase dramatically, to nearly seven million, or one in ten of the population.
In 2001 - before the mass wave of Eastern European migration caused by the accession of former Soviet states to the EU - they made up just 2.5 per cent.
The study predicts an increase in the number of Indians - nearly doubling from 1,432,000 to 2,672,000. There will also be sharp rises in numbers from Pakistan and Bangladesh.
The three- year study found minority groups would be better integrated in society and more likely to live in affluent areas.
Theresa May
Border control: Home Secretary Theresa May unveiled the country's first cap on migrant numbers last month
Project leader Professor Philip Rees said: 'The ethnic make-up of the UK's population is evolving significantly.
'Groups outside the white British majority are increasing in size and share, not just in the areas of initial migration, but throughout the country, and our projections suggest that this trend is set to continue through to 2051.
'At a regional level, ethnic minorities will shift out of deprived inner city areas to more affluent areas, which echoes the way white groups have migrated in the past.'
Commentators said a population of 80million would be a 'nightmare'.
Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the MigrationWatch UK think tank said the research demonstrated the need for cuts in migrant numbers.
'The prospect of better integration is welcome but will be a huge challenge if the ethnic minority population is to more than double,' he said.
'That apart, a population of nearly 80 million in mid century on this tiny island is a nightmare. These projections underline the case for getting immigration right down as the Government have promised.'
Home Secretary Theresa May unveiled the country's first cap on migrant numbers last month - reducing the number of permits for skilled workers by five per cent.
The temporary limit on the number of non-EU workers will be followed by a final cap to be unveiled next April.
David Cameron has pledged to reduce net migration - currently 176,000 to the low tens of thousands.
Around 70 per cent of the current population increases are due to immigration - through direct arrivals or children born to them.
The current UK population of 61,398,000 is an increase of three million since 1997.
But even that count may be too low because no one can estimate how many migrants have come into the country illegally.
Labour's supposedly 'tough' points-based system actually led to increases in the number of foreign workers and students cleared to live here.
The number of non-EU migrants given work permits, or permission to carry on working in Britain, rose by 20 per cent, from 159,535 in 2007 - the year before points were introduced - to 190,640 last year, including dependents.
The number of student approvals increased by a third, from 208,800 to 273,445 a year later.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1294221/How-migration-high-birth-rates-increase-UK-population-78MILLION-2051.html#ixzz0tYmeUbWJ
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