Demography of England

Map of population density in England as at the 2011 census

The non-metropolitan counties and unitary authorities of England, colour-coded to show population. (Due to the small size of the City of London density is displayed as part of the overall Greater London area)

The demography of England has since 1801 been measured by the decennial national census, and is marked by centuries of population growth and urbanisation. Due to the lack of authoritative contemporary sources, estimates of the population of England for dates prior to the first census in 1801 vary considerably.

Population

The population at the time of the 2011 census was 53,012,456

• Male: 26,069,148
• Female: 26,943,308
• Total: 53,012,456^[1]
• Total Fertility Rate: 1.97^[2] (higher than Germany – 1.42 & Italy – 1.40, lower than France – 2.02)

Historical population

Population 5000–100BC
Year	Pop.	±%
50000BC	below 6000	—
30000BC	100,000	—
18000BC	300,000	+200.0%
01000BC	1,500,000	+400.0%
Source: [3]

Population 1100–1700
Year	Pop.	±%
1086	1,710,000	—
1190	3,100,000	+81.3%
1220	3,970,000	+28.1%
1250	4,230,000	+6.5%
1279	4,430,000	+4.7%
1290	4,750,000	+7.2%
1315	4,690,000	−1.3%
1325	4,120,000	−12.2%
1348	4,810,000	+16.7%
1351	2,600,000	−45.9%
1377	2,500,000	−3.8%
1400	2,080,000	−16.8%
1430	2,020,000	−2.9%
1450	1,900,000	−5.9%
1490	2,140,000	+12.6%
1522	2,350,000	+9.8%
1541	2,830,000	+20.4%
1560	3,200,000	+13.1%
1600	4,110,000	+28.4%
1650	5,310,000	+29.2%
1700	5,200,000	−2.1%
Source: [4] [5]

Population 1801–2011
Year	Pop.	±%
1801	7,754,875	—
1811	8,762,178	+13.0%
1821	10,402,143	+18.7%
1831	12,011,830	+15.5%
1841	13,654,914	+13.7%
1851	15,288,885	+12.0%
1861	18,325,052	+19.9%
1871	21,361,235	+16.6%
1881	24,397,385	+14.2%
1891	27,231,229	+11.6%
1901	30,072,180	+10.4%
1911	33,561,235	+11.6%
1921	35,230,225	+5.0%
1931	37,359,045	+6.0%
1941	38,084,321	+1.9%
1951	38,668,830	+1.5%
1961	41,159,213	+6.4%
1971	43,460,525	+5.6%
1981	45,978,080	+5.8%
1991	48,197,672	+4.8%
2001	49,138,831	+2.0%
2011	53,012,456	+7.9%
Source: Year(s) 1801–2011[5][6][7][8]

Place of birth

Places of birth given by respondents to the 2001 and 2011 censuses were as follows:

Map showing the percentage of the population born outside England according to the 2011 census.

Country of birth	2001[9]		2011[10]
	Number	%	Number	%
England	42,968,596	87.44%	44,246,592	83.46%
Scotland	794,577	1.62%	708,872	1.34%
Wales	609,711	1.24%	506,619	0.96%
Northern Ireland	215,124	0.44%	206,735	0.39%
United Kingdom UK not otherwise specified			6,499	0.01%
Ireland	459,662	0.94%	395,182	0.75%
EU EU Member Countries	695,045	1.41%	1,980,259	3.73%
EU Other EU Member Countries (joined pre 2001)			894,908	1.69%
EU Other EU Member Countries (joined post 2001)			1,085,351	2.04%
UN Other Countries	3,396,116	6.91%	4,961,698	9.36%
Total	49,138,831	100.00%	53,012,456	100.00%

Below are the 5 largest foreign-born groups in England according to 2014 ONS estimates.^[11]

Country of birth	Estimated population, 2013	Estimated population, 2014	Estimated population, 2015
India	698,000	748,000	751,000
Poland	561,000	677,000	713,000
Pakistan	479,000	499,000	478,000
Republic of Ireland	315,000	317,000	318,000
Germany	263,000	267,000	253,000

Age

The data below is based on the 2011 census.^[12] In 2001, the mean age of England's population was 38.60, and the median age was 37.00.

Population pyramid for England as at the 2011 census.

Ages attained (years)	Population	% of total population	% per year of age band
0–4	3,318,449	6.26	1.25
5–9	2,972,632	5.61	1.12
10–14	3,080,929	5.81	1.16
15–19	3,340,265	6.30	1.26
20–24	3,595,321	6.78	1.36
25–29	3,650,881	6.89	1.38
30–34	3,509,221	6.62	1.32
35–39	3,549,116	6.69	1.34
40–44	3,885,934	7.33	1.47
45–49	3,879,815	7.32	1.46
50–54	3,400,095	6.41	1.28
55–59	2,996,992	5.65	1.13
60–64	3,172,277	5.98	1.20
65–69	2,508,154	4.73	0.95
70–74	2,044,129	3.86	0.77
75–79	1,669,345	3.15	0.63
80–84	1,258,773	2.37	0.47
85–89	776,311	1.46	0.29
90+	403,817	0.76	–

Life expectancy at birth^[13]

• January 2001 – December 2003
  • Males: 76.24 years
  • Females: 80.72 years
• January 2002 – December 2004
  • Males: 76.55 years
  • Females: 80.91 years
• January 2003 – December 2005
  • Males: 76.92 years
  • Females: 81.14 years

Ethnicity

The 2001 and 2011 censuses recorded the following ethnic groups:

Ethnic group	2001 population	2001 %	2011 population	2011 %
White: British	42,747,136	87.0	42,279,236	79.8
White: Irish	624,115	1.3	517,001	1.0
White: Irish Traveller/White Gypsy[note 1]			54,895	0.1
White: Other	1,308,110	2.7	2,430,010	4.6
White: Total	44,679,361	91.0	45,281,142	85.4
Asian or Asian British: Indian	1,028,546	2.1	1,395,702	2.6
Asian or Asian British: Pakistani	706,539	1.4	1,112,282	2.1
Asian or Asian British: Bangladeshi	275,394	0.6	436,514	0.8
Asian or Asian British: Chinese[note 2]	220,681	0.5	379,502	0.7
Asian or Asian British: Asian Other	237,810	0.5	819,403	1.6
Asian or Asian British: Total	2,468,970	5.1	4,143,403	7.8
Black or Black British: Caribbean	561,246	1.1	591,016	1.1
Black or Black British: African	475,938	1.0	977,741	1.8
Black or Black British: Other	95,324	0.2	277,857	0.5
Black or Black British: Total	1,132,508	2.3	1,846,614	3.5
Mixed: White and Caribbean	231,424	0.5	415,616	0.8
Mixed: White and African	76,498	0.2	161,550	0.3
Mixed: White and Asian Other	184,014	0.4	332,708	0.6
Mixed: Other Mixed	151,437	0.3	283,005	0.3
British Mixed: Total	643,373	1.4	1,192,879	2.3
Other: Arab[note 3]			220,985	0.4
Other: Any other ethnic group	214,619	0.4	327,433	0.6
Other: Total	214,619	0.4	548,418	1.0
Total	49,138,831	100	53,012,456	100

Notes for table above

1. New category created for the 2011 census
2. In 2001, listed under the 'Chinese or other ethnic group' heading.
3. New category created for the 2011 census

Source: 2001 Census KS06 Ethnic group: Key Statistics for local Authorities and 2011 Census: KS201EW Ethnic group: local authorities in England and Wales.

Languages

The most common main languages spoken in England according to the 2011 census are shown below.^[14]

Rank	Language	Usual residents aged 3+	Proportion
1	English	46,936,780	92.02%
2	Polish	529,173	1.04%
3	Punjabi	271,580	0.53%
4	Urdu	266,330	0.52%
5	Bengali (with Sylheti and Chatgaya)	216,196	0.42%
6	Gujarati	212,217	0.42%
7	Arabic	152,490	0.30%
8	French	145,026	0.28%
9	Portuguese	131,002	0.26%
10	Spanish	118,554	0.23%
11	Tamil	99,773	0.20%
12	Turkish	98,083	0.19%
13	Italian	90,547	0.18%
14	Somali	84,387	0.17%
15	Lithuanian	84,327	0.17%
16	German	75,190	0.15%
17	Persian/Farsi	75,179	0.15%
18	Tagalog/Filipino	67,593	0.13%
19	Romanian	66,496	0.13%
20	Russian	66,271	0.13%
–	Welsh	8,248	0.02%
–	Cornish	554	0.00%
–	Other	1,209,614	2.37%
	Population	51,005,610	100.00%

Religion

Religious structure, according to the 2011 census

  Christianity (59.39%)

  Islam (5.02%)

  Hinduism (1.52%)

  Sikhism (0.79%)

  Judaism (0.49%)

  Buddhism (0.45%)

  Other religion (0.43%)

  No religion (24.74%)

  Not declared (7.17%)

Respondents to the 2001 and 2011 censuses gave their religions as follows:

Religion	2001[15]		2011[16]
	Number	%	Number	%
Christian	35,251,244	71.74%	31,479,876	59.38%
Muslim	1,524,887	3.10%	2,660,116	5.02%
Hindu	546,982	1.11%	806,199	1.52%
Sikh	327,343	0.67%	420,196	0.79%
Jewish	257,671	0.52%	261,282	0.49%
Buddhist	139,046	0.28%	238,626	0.45%
Other religion	143,811	0.29%	227,825	0.43%
No religion	7,171,332	14.59%	13,114,232	24.74%
Religion not stated	3,776,515	7.69%	3,804,104	7.18%
Total population	49,138,831	100.00%	53,012,456	100.00%

See also

• Demography of the United Kingdom
• Demography of Scotland
• Demography of Wales
• Demography of Northern Ireland
• Demography of London
• Demography of Birmingham
• Demography of Greater Manchester
• United Kingdom Census 2011
• National Statistics Socio-economic Classification
• Census 2001 Ethnic Codes
• Lists of UK locations with large ethnic minority populations
• List of English districts by population
• List of urban areas in England by population
• List of towns and cities in England by historical population

Notes

References

1. "2011 Census: Population Estimates for the United Kingdom" (PDF). Office for National Statistics. 27 March 2011. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
2. "National Statistics Online – Live births". Statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
3. Prior, Francis (2004). BC Life in Britain and Ireland Before the Romans. London: Harper Perennial. ISBN 978-0007126934.
4. S. Broadberry et al (2010), "English Medieval Population: Reconciling Time Series and Cross Sectional Evidence", Table 7 (Preprint, p.22); S. Broadberry et al (2010), "British Economic Growth 1270–1870", Table 18 (Preprint, p. 54); see also S. Broadberry et al (2015), British Economic Growth 1270–1870, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 1107070783, Chapter 1, and Table 5.06, pg 205
   See also B. Campbell (1990), "People and Land in the Middle Ages, 1066–1500", in Robert A. Dodgshon and Robin A. Butlin (eds), Historical Geography of England and Wales, 2nd edition. Elsevier. ISBN 1483288412, pp. 69–122 for discussion of drivers and trends underlying the numbers.
5. Wrigley and Schofield, "The Population History of England, 1541–1871. A reconstruction.", Harvard University Press, 1981, Table 7.8, pgs. 208-9,
6. At the time of the first census. Census officials estimated that there had been an increase of 77% in the preceding 100 years. In each county women were in the majority. Notes for 1801 taken from Kent 1800–1899 – A Chronicle of the Nineteenth Century Bob Ogley (Froglets Publications 2003) ISBN 1-872337-51-1. Wrigley and Schofield estimate 8,664,000 based on birth and death records.]
7. Vision of Britain a population through time England, Retrieved 9 August 2013
8. 2011 Census: Population Estimates for the United Kingdom, 27 March 2011 (PDF), ONS, 12 December 2011, retrieved 9 August 2013
9. Census 2001 Key Statistics – Local Authorities KS05 Country of birth, Accessed 6 September 2014
10. 2011 Census: KS202EW National identity, local authorities in England and Wales, Accessed 22 December 2012
11. "Table 1.3: Overseas-born population in the United Kingdom, excluding some residents in communal establishments, by sex, by country of birth, January 2014 to December 2014". Office for National Statistics. 27 August 2015. Retrieved 17 April 2016. Figures given are the central estimates. See the source for 95 per cent confidence intervals.
12. UK Statistics (27 March 2011). "2011 Census: Usual resident population by five-year age group and sex, United Kingdom and constituent countries". UK Statistics. Retrieved 19 December 2012.
13. Neighbourhood Statistics. "Life Expectancy at Birth for City of London, London, England". Neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
14. "View:England". NOMIS. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
15. "Religion (2001 Census)". data.gov.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
16. "2011 Census: KS209EW Religion, local authorities in England and Wales". ons.gov.uk. Retrieved 18 December 2012.

External links

• National Statistics
• Populstat population figure site – main source for 1801–1991
• Genealogical documents
• England map by county population