The first data from the 2021 census offer a vivid snapshot of the population of England and Wales, but also of the dynamic changes affecting different towns and cities. Here are some highlights:
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If youth is the future, the best places to see it include Barking and Dagenham, Slough, Luton and Birmingham, which have the highest proportions of young people aged 0 to 19 in the population, ranging from 31.5% from Barking to 28.5% in Birmingham. compared to 23.1% in England and Wales combined.
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One in three people in North Norfolk is now 65 or older, making it the oldest place in England and Wales in terms of people of retirement age.
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Between 1981 and 2021, South Staffordshire had the largest increase in the proportion of people over 65 in England or Wales. This age group only represented 10.1% of the population four decades ago. It is now 25.2%. Between 2011 and 2021, Richmondshire in North Yorkshire had the largest increase in the proportion aged 65 and over, from 17.5% of the population in 2011 to 23.5% in 2021.
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Populations in Sunderland, Blackpool and Swansea have declined in the last decade and there have also been falls in the central London districts of Westminster, Camden and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC). Sunderland fell 0.6%, while Westminster and RBKC fell 6.8% and 9.5% respectively, although Westminster City Council believes this could be because about 100,000 London residents they have not been registered, as the census was taken during a period of confinement and residents may have been living elsewhere.
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The population of the UK’s largest city, London, grew 7.7%, from 8.2 million to 8.8 million, slightly larger than Kuala Lumpur but smaller than Tehran.
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Outside of London, the most densely populated places are Luton, Portsmouth and Leicester. More than 5,000 people pile up every square mile in these towns and cities.
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RBKC has the highest proportion of women anywhere in England and Wales with 53.3% and the City of London has the highest percentage of men with 55.8%. Men outnumber women in just 11 council areas, including Rutland, Richmondshire and Salford. Rushmoor and East Staffordshire offer an exactly uniform gender divide.