The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released first of its data on Census 2021 on 28 June. Asian Voice and Gujarat
Samachar ran campaigns with the ONS to educate and encourage members of the Asian community to take part in the
census when data was being collected from households.
On Tuesday, as we went to press, new data that is planned to be released in stages over next two years, reveals that
the population of England and Wales has grown by more than 3.5 million (6.3%) in 10 years, from 56.1 to 59.6 million.
From October, until the end of the year, initial topic summary reports including demography, migration, ethnicity, religion, UK armed forces veterans, education, health, the labour market, sexual orientation and gender identity will be released.
Growing ageing population
The first set of data revealed shows that population is also ageing, with 18.6% of people aged 65 and over, up from 16.4% a decade earlier. There are more people aged 65 and over in Wales (21.3%) than there are in England (18.4%).
However, 51.0% of the overall population are women (30,420,100 women) and 49.0% are men (29,177,200) in England and Wales. This is similar to 2011, when 50.8% of the population were female and 49.2% were male.
Compared with the other English regions, London had the largest percentage of people aged between 15 and 64 years (70.0%).
The local authorities with the highest percentage of persons aged under 15 years were Barking and Dagenham (24.5%), Slough (23.5%) and Luton (21.9%). All these three regions have a considerably large Asian population.
There were 24,782,800 households in England and Wales on Census Day; the number of households increased by more than 1.4 million since 2011 (6.1%), when there were 23,366,044 households.
Commenting on the numbers, the Office for National Statistics’ Deputy National Statistician Pete Benton said, “Today’s census statistics begin to paint a rich and detailed snapshot of the nation and how we were living during the pandemic. They show the population of England and Wales continued to grow across the decade, albeit at different rates across the regions.
“Ultimately, the full suite of census results, based on the information we all gave, will ensure decisions about how the billions of pounds we spend each year as a nation are made using the best possible evidence. This includes planning our emergency services, mental health care, school places, hospital beds, houses, roads, buses, trains, trams, GPs and dentists’ services.”
Pete added, “Since census day the world has continued to change. People continue to move home, some people will have left the country, others will have arrived. People will have changed jobs, some of us now work in offices once again, while others continue to work from home.
“We need to understand all of this and more. The results from Census 2021 – and there’s lots more to follow - therefore provide a key bridge from the past to the future as we deliver more frequent, relevant and timely statistics using data from across government to allow us to understand population change in local areas this year and beyond.”
The first Census 2021 estimates show the region with the highest population growth was the East of England, which increased by 8.3% from 2011 (a gain of approximately 488,000 people). The Southwest and London were the areas with the next highest rates of population growth. Population change in certain areas may reflect how the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic affected people's choice of usual residence on Census Day. These changes might have been temporary for some and more long-lasting for others.
Densely populated local authorities
The 20 most densely populated local authorities across the two nations were all London boroughs, with Tower Hamlets (15,695 residents per square kilometre), Islington (14,578 residents per square kilometre) and Hackney (13,611 residents per square kilometre) topping the list. In Wales, the most densely populated local authority was Cardiff (2,572 residents per square kilometre).
The least densely populated local authorities were Eden (in the Northwest of England) and Powys (in Wales), which both had 26 residents per square kilometre on average. Other local authorities with low population densities included Ryedale (36 residents per square kilometre) and Richmondshire (38 residents per square kilometre).
The census provides estimates of the characteristics of all people and households in England and Wales on Census Day, 21 March 2021. It is carried out every 10 years and gives us the most accurate estimate of all the people and households in England and Wales.
ch 2021. It is carried out every
10 years and gives us the most accurate
estimate of all the people and households
in England and Wales.