Demography of the United Kingdom

The population of the United Kingdom was estimated at over 67.0 million in 2020. It is the 21st most populated country in the world and has a population density of 270 people per square kilometre (700 people per square mile), with England having significantly greater density than Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.^[3] Almost a third of the population lives in south east England, which is predominantly urban and suburban, with about 9 million in the capital city, London, whose population density is just over 5,200 per square kilometre (13,468 per sq mi).^[4]

Demographics of the United Kingdom
Population pyramid in 2020
Population	67,081,234 (30 June 2020)^[1]
Density	270/km² (700/sq mi) (2020 census)
Growth rate	0.53% (2022 est.)
Birth rate	10.79 per 1,000 (2022)
Death rate	9.07 per 1,000 (2022)
Life expectancy	81.94 years (2022)
• male	79.95 years of age (2022)
• female	84.04 years of age (2022)
Fertility rate	1.61 (2021)
Infant mortality rate	3.82 deaths/1,000 live births (2022)
Net migration rate	3.59 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2022 est.)
Age structure
0–14 years	17.6% (2020)
15–64 years	63.9%
65 and over	18.5%
Sex ratio
At birth	1.05 male(s)/female
Under 15	1.05 male(s)/female (2022)
65 and over	0.73 male(s)/female (2022)
Nationality
Nationality	British
Major ethnic	White: 87.17% White British/Irish: 82.8% (2011)
Minor ethnic	Asian British: (6.3%) Black British: (3.0%) British Mixed: (2.0%) Other: (0.9%)
Language
Spoken	British English
Sources: ^[2]

The population of the UK has undergone demographic transition—that is, the transition from a (typically) pre-industrial population, with high birth and mortality rates and slow population growth, through a stage of falling mortality and faster rates of population growth, to a stage of low birth and mortality rates with, again, lower rates of growth. This growth through 'natural change' has been accompanied in the past two decades by growth through net migration into the United Kingdom, which since 1999 has exceeded natural change.^[5]

The United Kingdom's high literacy rate (99% at age 15 and above)^[6] is attributable to universal state education, introduced at the primary level in 1870 (Scotland 1872, free 1890^[7]) and at the secondary level in 1900. Parents are obliged to have their children educated from the ages of 5 to 16 years (18 in England from 2013),^[8] and can continue education free of charge in the form of A-Levels, vocational training, and apprenticeship until the age of 18.

The United Kingdom's population is predominantly White British (81.88% at the 2011 Census), but due to migration from Commonwealth nations, Britain has become ethnically diverse. The second and third largest non-white racial groups are Asian British at 7% of the population, followed by Black British people at 3%.

The main language of the country is British English. Some Celtic languages, namely Scottish Gaelic and Irish, are still spoken by minorities in Scotland and Northern Ireland, respectively, and Cornish has been revived to a limited degree in Cornwall; but the predominant language in all these areas is English. Welsh is widely spoken as a first language in parts of North and West Wales, and to lesser extent in South East Wales, where English is the dominant first language.^{[citation needed]}

History

Before the census, 200–1800

Roman Britain had an estimated population between 2.8 million and 3 million at the end of the second century AD. At the end of the fourth century, it had an estimated population of 3.6 million, of whom 125,000 consisted of the Roman army and their families and dependents.^[9] The urban population of Roman Britain was about 240,000 people at the end of the fourth century.^[9] Roman Britain's capital city, Londinium, is estimated to have had a population of about 60,000.^[10]^[11]

Following the Roman withdrawal from Britain, Germanic tribes from continental Europe such as the Angles, Saxons and Jutes began a period of significant migration to the southeastern part of the island, notably bringing their language, Old English.^[12] Nevertheless, the overall population is believed to have fallen precipitously due to political upheavals and plagues.^[13]^[14] By the time of the compilation of the Domesday Book in the eleventh century, there may have between 1.25 and 2 million people living in England.^[15] Though the Domesday Book did not count the English population, it has been regarded as one of the first attempts to produce a census of the country.^[16]

Between the years of 1086 and 1750, the English population fluctuated in size due to civil war, famines and plagues.^[5] By the end of the 13th century, the population was estimated to have reached between four to six million people, but a combination of factors such as widespread famine and disease in the following century collapsed the population dramatically. An agricultural crisis in 1315 to 1322 and the Black Death in 1348 to 1350 collapsed the population by over a third of its pre-existing number, and the growth rate.^[5] By 1377, the population was estimated on a poll-tax of all people aged 14 and over, depending on the population amount of those under 14, to be around 2.2 million to 3.1 million.^[5]

Periods of instability over the 15th century such as the War of the Roses caused the population to, while grow, increase at a slowed pace.^[5] The general factors behind the slow increase was a high mortality rate due to war, less marriages within the population and late marriages, keeping fertility levels lower than they should have been for the time and a net emigration of English people out of the country.^[5] However in contrast to the preceding century, by the 16th century, this situation has elevated itself due to political stability under the Tudor monarchy and little civil unrest which would have resulted in a higher mortality rate.^[5] While this was overturned with the English Civil War in 17th century, it allowed the population to grow at a faster pace, causing the population of England to reach a pre-collapse total of 5.74 million by 1750.^[5] In Scotland, population growth was not to the same extent as it was in England, which resulted in being significantly lower in the late 17th and early 18th centuries, which is often ascribed to similar factors halting it such as a high mortality rate, especially for infants, and later marriage and childbearing patterns.^[5] Ireland on the other hand before the 19th century consistently had rapid population growth, which has been ascribed to higher fertility rates and earlier marriage than England. Furthermore the Plantation of Ulster in the 17th century also affected the population total of Scotland with an estimated 100,000 Scots migrating to Ulster, additionally, the Jacobite rebellion in 1745 also caused significant emigration.^[5] The estimated population total of Scotland in 1691 was 1.23 million.^[5]

The impetus to collect population data was reinforced due to food supply concerns and war against France in the late 18th century and the beginning of the early 19th century.^[5] In 1800, the Census Act was passed, authorising the first modern census in British history to be conducted.^[5]

Census established and the demographic transition, 1800 – 2000

Population development of the UK since 1800

The first Census in 1801 revealed that the population of Great Britain was 10.5 million.^[17] Of this, England's population had grown to 8.3 million, Wales population rested at 0.6 million while Scotland had a population of 1.6 million.^[5] In Ireland, the population rested at an estimate of between 4.5 and 5.5 million inhabitants.^[18]^[19] Since 1801, a census has been conducted every decade, in Ireland this was conducted for the first time in 1821.^[5]

During the Industrial Revolution, the demographic transition started to occur within the United Kingdom, going from a pre-industrial society demographically to one of a industrialised society. By 1841 Census, the population of England and Wales rested at 15.9 million,^[5]^[20] doubling in the space of 40 years, for Ireland 8.2 million^[5]^[20]^[21] and for Scotland 2.6 million.^[5]^[20] This slowed rate of growth for Scotland may be attributed to higher net emigration of Scottish people out of the nation, and two typhus epidemics in 1837 and 1847.^[5]

Factors often associated with the beginning of the demographic transition began to change dramatically as well, which contributed to the rapid increase. For example, Child mortality decreased dramatically, the proportion of children born in London who died before the age of five decreased from 74.5 per thousand in 1730–1749 to 31.8 per thousand in 1810–1829.^[22] General mortality was thought to have declined as well, especially after 1850 as well as a increased birth rate caused the English population to sustain itself in the second phase of the transition from 1750 to 1870.^[5]

Due to this, in the second half of the 19th century the population of England continued to grow quickly from 16.8 million in 1851 to 30.5 million in 1901.^[5] This rapid growth was also seen in the other constituent nations. In Wales, the population increased from 0.6 million in 1801 to 2 million in 1901, in Scotland, the population increased from 1.6 million to 4.5 million in 1901. In contrast however and due to the Great Irish Famine, which began in the 1840s, caused the deaths of 1 million Irish people, and caused well over a million to emigrate.^[5]^[23] Mass emigration became entrenched as a result of the famine, and Ireland's population decreased rapidly, from 8.2 million in 1841 to 3.2 million in 1901.^[5]^[24] However this massive population collapse did not effect Northern Ireland to the same extent, due to being more industrialised and urbanised and while the population did decline, it had recovered itself by the beginning of the 20th century.^[5] This prolonged period of emigration and net population decline in Irish history was only reversed by the middle of the 20th century.^[24]

By the 1870s, the total fertility rate of the UK population declined from 4.88 children per woman in 1871, to 2.4 by 1921, representing a transition to the third stage of the demographic transition.^[5] Traditional means of birth control were used such as abstinence and withdrawal facilitated the collapse of the birth rate,^[5] this was also hastened by the 1930s by more modern methods of contraception which were beginning to be used with increased acceptance.^[5] From 1840 to 1930 there was a net emigration of English people out of the country which resulted in the population being stunted in the capacity it could have grown to.^[5]

During the first half of the 20th century, the United Kingdom began to approach the 4th stage of the demographic transition.^[5] The end of the First World War and the loss of lives of troops, coupled with an influenza outbreak is estimated to have caused the death of upwards of 900,000 people in the United Kingdom.^[5] This as a consequence shrunk the male population of the Lost Generation and altered the sex ratio, which slowed the growth rate of the population down.^[5] By the end of the Second World War, this transition had been completed and the society had a low but fluctuating birth rate, a low death rate and a slowed growth rate of the population.^[5] In 1948, the British Nationality Act was signed which allowed the access of the peoples of the British Empire's colonies to migrate to the country being classed in nationality as the same as a native of the United Kingdom. This law, while a unintentional side-effect, led to the start of modern migration to the United Kingdom.

The move into the 4th stage also took place during major social change in the United Kingdom throughout the 1960s.^[5] Liberalisation of society during the decade led to the 1967 Abortion Act which legalised abortion in the United Kingdom for the first time, and the 1969 Divorce Reform Act, which liberalised the circumstances under which someone can get a divorce.^[5] Between these years, the population fluctuated; from the 1950s onwards the population increased through natural growth but by the time of the mid 1970s the population decreased due to emigration, which took net migration to a negative, and deaths exceeding births.^[5] For the first time in 1973, the birth rate of the country fell below replacement level, due to the previous liberalising acts.^[25] By the 1980s, the decline of population growth had recovered to a extent due to a reversal of net emigration.^[5]

In the 1990s, international migration began to contribute more proportionally to population growth,^[5] and by 1998 this had passed natural increase as the main provider of growth.^[5] Liberalisation of immigration rules under the new government allowed rapid increase of the number of migrants arriving, quadrupling the number from a net migration rate of 50,000 a year, to 200,000 a year.^[26]

Modern century, 2000–present

By the beginning of the 21st century, the population of the United Kingdom rested at a total of 59,113,000 people. In each constituent nation, the population of England was 49,449,700, Scotland had a population of 5,064,200, Wales had a population of 2,910,200 and Northern Ireland a population of 1,689,300.^[5] Increased international migration which began to rapidly increase at the end of the 20th century also has brought increased ethnic heterogenization to the British population, not only in ethnicity and race, but also in country of birth. In 2001, the White British population was registered to be 88.52% of the total population, but by 2011, this proportion of the population had dropped to 81.88%, with other ethnic groups either rising by 50% of their respective total population in 2001 or doubling entirely.

Such rapid immigration growth boosted population growth in the United Kingdom. In 2011, the population sat at around 63 million people.

Population

Total number of registered deaths over time

The population of the UK in the last recorded census in 2011 was 63 million, of whom 31 million were male and 32 million female. The 2011 census recorded the population of England as 53.0 million, Scotland as 5.3 million, Wales as 3.1 million, and Northern Ireland as 1.8 million.^[27] At the last recorded population estimate, it was estimated that the UK population was at a total of 67,081,234 people.

There are 13 urban areas that exceed 500,000 inhabitants: they are centred on London, Birmingham, Glasgow, Leeds and Bradford, Southampton and Portsmouth, Sheffield, Liverpool, Leicester, Manchester, Belfast, Bristol, Newcastle upon Tyne and Nottingham.^[28]

According to the World Population Review,^[29] in 2019 there was:

One birth every 39 seconds
One death every 52 seconds
A net gain of one person every minute
One net migrant every 3 minutes

^{[fn 1]}

Population by constituent country

Population distribution across the country
Part	Population (mid-2020)^[30]	Of total population (%)		Area (km² (mi²))^[31]	Of total area (%)	Population density (per km² (per mi²))
England	56,550,138	84.3	84.3	130,309 (50,313)	53.7	434 (1,124)
Scotland	5,466,000	8.2	8.2	77,911 (30,082)	32.1	70 (181)
Wales	3,169,586	4.7	4.7	20,736 (8,006)	8.5	153 (396)
Northern Ireland	1,895,510	2.8	2.8	13,793 (5,326)	5.7	137 (355)
United Kingdom	67,081,234	100	100	242,749 (93,726)	100	274 (710)

Population across constituent countries over time
England
Scotland
Wales
Northern Ireland

Population change over time

Population change in England, Wales and Northern Ireland from 2011 to 2021

More than -3%

-0 - 3%

+0 - 5%

+5 - 10%

More than +10%

The following table shows the total UK population estimated at census dates. Pre 1901 figures include the whole of Ireland, whereas from 1901 onwards only the population of Northern Ireland is included.

United Kingdom population at census dates^[32]^[33]^[34]
Intercensal period	Population at start of period	Average annual numbers of					Population density at start of period (per km²)
Intercensal period	Population at start of period	Overall change	Births	Deaths	Net natural change	Net migration etc	Population density at start of period (per km²)
1851–1861	27,368,800	154,910	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	87
1861–1871	28,917,900	256,680	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	92
1871–1881	31,484,700	344,980	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	100
1881–1891	34,934,500	286,790	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	111
1891–1901	37,802,400	373,580	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	Unknown	120
1901–1911	38,237,000	385,000	1,091,000	624,000	467,000	−82,000	156
1911–1921	42,082,000	195,000	975,000	689,000	286,000	−92,000	172
1921–1931	44,027,000	201,000	824,000	555,000	268,000	−67,000	180
1931–1951	46,038,000	213,000	793,000	603,000	190,000	22,000	188
1951–1961	50,225,000	258,000	839,000	593,000	246,000	12,000	205
1961–1971	52,807,000	312,000	962,000	638,000	324,000	−12,000	216
1971–1981	55,928,000	42,000	736,000	666,000	69,000	−27,000	229
1981–1991	56,357,000	108,000	757,000	655,000	103,000	5,000	231
1991–2001	57,439,000	161,000	731,000	631,000	100,000	61,000	235
2001–2011	59,113,000	324,000	722,000	588,000	134,000	191,000	242
2011–2021	63,182,000	—	—	—	—	—	259

Population density calculated on:

Pre-1901: 243,820 km² total land area for the United Kingdom plus 70,273 km² land area of the Republic of Ireland.
Post-1901: its current boundaries.

Future projections

Population projections from the UN for the United Kingdom to 2100

The UK government first began publishing population projections for the country in the 1920's under the Government Actuary’s Department (GAD) which were mainly produced to be used for long-term financial estimates for pensions and other schemes of social insurance.^[35] However since the Second World War, population projections have taken an expanded role in all areas of influencing government policy. The GAD produced population projections every year from 1955 to 1979 and then switched it to every 2 years up to 1991. The Office of National Statistics took control of producing population projections for the country in 2006.^[35]

The British Office for National Statistics' 2016-based National Population Projections indicated that, if recent trends continue, the UK's population would increase by 3.6 million between mid-2016 and mid-2026. This represents an average annual growth rate of 0.5%. Over the same period, the population of England is projected to grow by 5.9%; for Wales, this figure is 3.1%, while for Scotland and Northern Ireland the figures are 3.2% and 4.2% respectively. These projections did not allow for any possible effects of the UK leaving the European Union.^[36]

Fertility

Total fertility rate of the United Kingdom from 1541 to 2019

TFR of the United Kingdom across local authorities in 2021

1 to 1.4

1.4 to 1.7

1.7 to 1.9

1.9 to 2.1

2.1+

Since 1838, it has been compulsory to register a birth or death in the United Kingdom.^[37]

First official data on the fertility rate of the country was first made available in 1938,^[37] However estimates of the total fertility rate can be made back all the way till 1541.^[38]

The fertility rate of the country before the 19th century maintained itself at an average of around 5 children per woman. This fertility rate within the United Kingdom has been falling since 1870, when the country began into transition into the 3rd stage of the demographic transition.^[39]^[37]^[25]^[40]^[41] This transition represents the change in reproductive strategy from how many children a mother 'needs' to more of how many she 'wants' and a substitution of quality over quantity in the offspring produced.^[42]^[43] From the 1880s onwards, the birth rate began to decline rapidly from the levels it had previous sustained itself at.^[43] In England this crude birth rate decline represented a 44% decrease over a period from 1875 to 1920.^[43]

A number of factors have been argued to have contributed to this ranging from four broad spectrums of biological, technological changes and developments in the society, socio-economic reasons and cultural considerations.^[40] In the context of the Industrial Revolution, a large number of socio-economic developments occurred; large scale urbanisation of the population caused mass internal movements of people to high density population centres, income per capita of citizens rose significantly especially in the last half of the 19th century, coupled with large scale economic growth improved the livelihoods of the working and middle classes of the United Kingdom, this growth in the standard of living led also to the collapse of mortality rates, which had been in decline since the early 18th century and more especially the infant mortality.^[41]^[43]^[40] This development came about with the decline of child labour at the same time as well which meant there was less of a need for a quantity of children to uphold the household economically,^[41]^[43]^[40] educational quality of the country rose during the same time period which meant that children held more a economical potential through educated labour means.^[40]

The decline and equalling out of the gender gap in terms of place in the workforce meant that women were beginning in the 19th century to become a larger part of the workforce which also contributed to the birth rate decline.^[41]^[43]^[40]

Improvements in public diets and nutritional quality increases, which are linked to biological factors such as a decline in lactation, have also been included as a potential factor in the decline of the fertility rate.^[40] Technological developments within the society also began to have an effect; contraceptive use become somewhat usable on a mass scale in the latter half of the 19th century due to technological developments in the production of rubber.^[40] Abortion, while illegal during the 19th century, was also used by women, however to what extent at the time is unknown.^[40]

Cultural considerations such as decline in religious adherence (albeit little data on this matter during the 19th century) have also been considered as reasons.^[40] While these factors altogether are debated by demographers as to which were more important than each other, it is generally accepted that due to these factors overall, mothers could begin to invest more time and nurture 'quality' into their offspring rather than having a increased 'quantity' of children that were needed in the past for various such reasons, and that this development led to the decrease of the total fertility rate.^[42]

By 1914, the birthrate sat at around 2.88 children per woman, however by 1918 had collapsed proportionally by almost 50%^[44] due to World War One and sank to 2.03 children.^[45]^[38] In the post-World War One period, while the birthrate of the country boomed at the very end of the war reaching a peak of 3.08 children in 1920,^[45] this began to endure a rapid decline and had slumped to historic lows by the 1930s, for the first time in the country's history falling below a replacement level fertility rate.^[37]^[25] This did not recover in-till the end of the Second World War in 1945.

In the post-World War Two period, the fertility rate of the country boomed once again, bringing itself out of the below replacement level in the 1930s to levels not seen since the late 19th century. This peaked in 1964, with a TFR of 2.95.^[46]^[47] However by 1973, the fertility rate of the country collapsed again below replacement, and has not since in the present day reached a replacement level again.^[37] However population issues such as the sub-replacement level fertility rate have often been categorised as something in which the government does not view as a major issue.^[25] Little incentives were made and have been made to increase the birth rate throughout the UK's post war period.^[25] However Wendy Singe argues that, while compared to other countries, the United Kingdom managed to retain a similarly 'high' (for post-war European standards) fertility rate with a quote; 'liberal market economy and residual approach to welfare, a combination of high female employment and relatively high fertility has been achieved without a coherent or generous set of work-family reconciliation policies.'^[25]

Family planning policies were enacted during the 1970s due to concerns of rapid population growth during the 1960s.^[25] The 1973 NHS Reorganisation Act is an example of such policies, within this act family planning advice and supplies were first issued to the public.^[25] Over this time period, with previous liberalising acts such as the Abortion Act and the Divorce Reform Act, and scientific developments such as increased access to contraceptive methods to reduce pregnancies, such as the contraceptive pill, it is generally ascribed that these social changes were the major contributors to the decline of the fertility rate below replacement level in the latter half of the 20th century.^[25] With these changes also, pre-marital conceptions fell to 1950 levels by the late 1970s.^[25] This pattern of decline of the birth rate is similar to other European countries.^[25]

The government's position was further presented and then re-iterated in 1984 at the UN Conference on Population in Mexico;

The United Kingdom('s) government does not pursue a population policy in the sense of actively trying to influence the overall size of the population, its age-structure, or the components of change except in the field of immigration. Nor has it expressed a view about the size of population, or the age-structure, that would be desirable. ...The current level of births has not been the cause of general anxiety. The prevailing view is that decisions about fertility and childbearing are for people themselves to make, but that it is proper for government to provide individuals with the information and the means necessary to make their decisions effective. To this end, the government provides assistance with family planning as part of the National Health Service. The ‘ageing’ of the population does raise social and economic issues. However, it is believed that these will prove manageable; and also, to a degree, that society will adapt....’^[25]

In 2003, Right to Request was setup which allowed the parents of small children to request flexible working times which included shorter working hours for parents to care for their children.^[25] However, although a majority of requests for Right to Request are accepted, a report in 2006 found that its impact was negligible as mothers tended to switch employers to get reduced hours regardless.^[25]

Due to migration beginning in the late 90s and especially during the 2000s lead to the overall total fertility rate of the country to rise by 0.1 in the period of 2004 to 2011.^[25]

In 2012, the UK's total fertility rate (TFR) was 1.92 children per woman,^[48] below the replacement rate, which in the UK is 2.075.^[49] In 2001, the TFR was at a record low of 1.63, but it then increased every year until it reached a peak of 1.96 in 2008, before decreasing again.^[48] In 2012 and 2013, England and Wales's TFR decreased to 1.85.^[48]^[50] In Scotland however TFR is lower: it decreased from 1.75 in 2010 to 1.67 in 2012.^[48] Northern Ireland has the highest TFR in the UK, standing at 2.02 in 2010 and 2.03 in 2012.^[48]

Total fertility rate (TFR) from 1552 to 1899
Years^[38]
1552	1556	1560	1565	1570	1575	1580	1590	1595	1600	1605	1610	1615	1620	1625	1630	1640	1650
5.12	4.78	4.7	5.31	4.64	4.48	4.62	4.25	4.47	4.63	4.79	4.47	4.51	4.78	4.35	4.45	4.71	3.49

1660	1665	1670	1675	1680	1690	1695	1700	1705	1710	1715	1720	1725	1730	1735	1740	1750	1755
3.83	4.1	3.97	3.75	3.97	4.29	4.37	4.39	4.37	3.79	4.25	4.16	4.51	4.28	4.94	4.58	4.73	4.64

1760	1765	1770	1775	1780	1785	1790	1795	1797	1799	1800	1801	1802	1803	1804	1805	1806	1807
4.56	4.81	4.98	4.96	4.9	5.09	5.35	5.21	5.4	5.11	4.97	4.6	5.3	5.61	5.65	5.55	5.49	5.45

1808	1809	1810	1811	1812	1813	1814	1815	1816	1817	1818	1819	1820	1821	1822	1823	1824	1825
5.4	5.24	5.36	5.43	5.31	5.45	5.46	6.02	5.73	5.69	5.54	5.45	5.4	5.55	5.69	5.54	5.42	5.38

1826	1827	1828	1829	1830	1831	1832	1833	1834	1835	1836	1837	1838	1839	1840	1841	1842	1843
5.36	5.07	5.23	4.85	4.83	4.78	4.78	5	4.89	4.83	4.86	4.79	4.78	4.93	4.9	4.89	4.83	4.82

1844	1845	1846	1847	1848	1849	1850	1851	1852	1853	1854	1855	1856	1857	1858	1859	1860	1861
4.83	4.75	4.9	4.58	4.71	4.78	4.85	4.94	4.94	4.78	4.89	4.85	4.94	4.9	4.79	4.97	4.86	4.88

1862	1863	1864	1865	1866	1867	1868	1869	1870	1871	1872	1873	1874	1875	1876	1877	1878	1879
4.92	4.94	4.96	4.94	4.92	4.94	4.97	4.82	4.88	4.85	4.89	4.94	4.93	4.92	4.9	4.89	4.88	4.81

1880	1881	1882	1883	1884	1885	1886	1887	1888	1889	1890	1891	1892	1893	1894	1895	1896	1897
4.75	4.68	4.62	4.55	4.47	4.39	4.32	4.24	4.16	4.11	4.06	4	3.95	3.9	3.84	3.79	3.73	3.68

1898	1899
3.62	3.58

Birth statistics
Mean age of mother by birth order in England and Wales
Mean age of parents at birth in England and Wales
Stillbirth rate in England and Wales
Live births by age group in England and Wales
Percentage of women childless by age 30 in England and Wales by mothers year of birth
Average number of children by year of birth of the mothers in England and Wales
Percentage of births born outside of wedlock in England and Wales
Conception rate per 1000 women by age groups in England and Wales
Teenage conception rate per 1000 women in England and Wales

Total live births over time

Mother's mean age at first birth

The first available data on when a mother gives birth for the first time was in 1920.^[37]

The reduction of the total fertility rate of the United Kingdom has also had an effect on the mean age in which a mother gives birth to her first child.^[46]

The age in which a mother gives birth to her first child has changed depending on the time period, but since the 1970s the age in which someone gives birth has been trending upwards.^[46]

Mean age of childbearing^[37]^[46]
Year	Mean age of childbearing
1920	25.6
1941	23.8
1959	25.7
1960	27.8
1965	27.1
1970	26.3
1975	26.5
1980	26.9
1985	27.3
1990	27.7
2018	29

Family size

The reduction of the fertility rate has also had an effect on the general family size of mothers in the United Kingdom, with the two being interlinked with each other.^[46] The family size of the average UK family can be estimated with a completed family size (CFS), which is an estimate of the amount of children a woman has birthed by the end of her childbearing years.^[37]

Family size within the UK has shifted towards two or one children in recent decades, rather than in the past when larger family sizes were more prominent and sought after.^[46] This pattern is similar to other European countries, where couples are having fewer children.^[46] Increasingly, there are also more couples who are completely childless; this has been increasing since the 1950s.^[46]^[51]

Development of family size distribution (percentages)^[37]^[46]
No. of children	Years
No. of children	1920	1925	1930	1935	1940	1945	1950	1955	1960
0	21	17	13	12	11	10	14	17	21
1	21	22	18	15	13	13	12	12	12
2	27	28	30	32	37	43	43	40	35
3	16	17	19	21	22	21	20	20	21
4 or more	15	16	20	20	17	13	11	11	11
Average family size (Completed family size of all women)	2	2.12	2.35	2.42	2.36	2.17	2.03	2.02	1.95

Life expectancy

Life expectancy in UK since 1543

Life expectancy in UK since 1960 by gender

Life expectancy has increased in the United Kingdom since the 18th century due to the Industrial Revolution and then the Second Industrial Revolution which has vastly increased quality of life of the country's citizens.

At the start of the 20th century, the life expectancy at birth was only 45.6 years.^[52]

By 1950, life expectancy at birth had risen to 68.6 years.^[52] During the latter half of the century, further factors influenced the increase of life expectancy: diseases and the improvement of healthcare in the 1950s, decline in smoking in the mid-1970s and improvements in treating heart disease in the 1990s contributed to its decline.^[53]

At the start of the 21st century, the life expectancy at birth was 77.8 years.^[52]

In 2011 the life expectancy at birth of the UK was around 80.4 years,^[52] but the rate of increase has been stalling.^[53]^[54]^[55] Potential factors behind this may be austerity measures imposed in the beginning of the 2010s,^[55]^[56] which coincidentally since then mortality rates have slowed down in decline^[57] or older people dying off at faster rates than expected.^[57] On the topic of austerity measures, Professor Richard Faragher has said that "It is possible to have high or rising life expectancy during austerity, as is the case in Japan. Similarly, you can have rising life expectancy despite high levels of inequality – this was the case in Britain from 1900-1950."^[57] but noted that austerity measures to social services like the NHS, especially social care support for the elderly may be causing a stalling of life expectancy increase due to a decreased quality of life for older generations.^[55]^[57]

Life expectancy from 1543 to 2015
Years^[58]^[52]
1543	1548	1553	1558	1563	1568	1573	1578	1583	1588	1593	1603	1608	1613	1618	1623	1628	1633
33.9	38.8	39.6	22.4	36.7	39.7	41.1	41.6	42.7	37.1	38.1	38.5	39.6	36.8	40.3	33.4	39.7	39.7

1638	1643	1648	1653	1658	1663	1668	1673	1678	1683	1688	1693	1698	1703	1713	1718	1723	1728
34.0	36.3	39.7	39.1	33.0	33.3	33.5	37.4	32.4	31.3	35.9	36.5	38.1	38.5	36.9	35.8	35.5	25.3

1733	1738	1743	1748	1753	1758	1763	1768	1773	1778	1783	1788	1793	1798	1803	1808	1813	1818
36.3	35.3	34.3	36.5	39.8	38.1	35.4	36.2	39.1	37.7	35.8	39.0	37.9	38.9	40.0	40.6	41.3	40.8

1823	1828	1833	1838	1842	1843	1844	1845	1846	1847	1848	1849	1850	1851	1852	1853	1854	1855
40.5	41.4	40.9	40.6	41.0	41.6	41.2	42.2	40.2	38.5	39.9	37.7	42.8	41.0	40.4	40.0	39.5	40.7

1856	1857	1858	1859	1860	1861	1862	1863	1864	1865	1866	1867	1868	1869	1870	1871	1872	1873
42.5	40.9	39.5	40.4	41.9	41.6	42.1	40.4	39.6	39.8	40.1	42.0	41.7	41.3	40.6	41.1	42.7	43.3

1874	1875	1876	1877	1878	1879	1880	1881	1882	1883	1884	1885	1886	1887	1888	1889	1890	1891
42.1	41.5	42.7	43.7	42.0	43.5	43.0	45.1	44.0	44.0	43.6	44.6	44.6	45.1	46.3	45.9	44.1	44.4

1892	1893	1894	1895	1896	1897	1898	1899	1900	1901	1902	1903	1904	1905	1906	1907	1908	1909
45.6	44.7	48.3	45.4	47.1	46.4	46.1	45.2	45.6	46.9	48.3	49.5	48.1	49.9	49.6	50.6	51.0	51.7

1910	1911	1912	1913	1914	1915	1916	1917	1918	1919	1920	1921	1922	1923	1924	1925	1926	1927
53.3	51.2	54.3	53.4	53.2	51.2	54.2	54.2	47.3	54.3	57.3	58.1	57.0	59.3	58.1	58.4	59.6	59.0

1928	1929	1930	1931	1932	1933	1934	1935	1936	1937	1938	1939	1940	1941	1942	1943	1944	1945
59.9	57.6	60.8	60.0	60.5	60.6	61.3	62.0	61.8	62.3	63.2	63.6	60.9	61.4	64.0	64.0	64.8	65.8

1946	1947	1948	1949	1950
66.3	66.3	68.4	68.1	68.6

1950–55			1955–60			1960–65			1965–70			1970–75			1975–80
69.4			70.6			71.0			71.7			72.3			73.0
1980–85			1985–90			1990–95			1995–2000			2000–05			2005–10
74.2			75.1			76.3			77.2			78.4			79.7
2010–15
81.0

Infant mortality

Infant mortality trends since 1960

Infant mortality has been on the decline since the Second Industrial Revolution, although the majority of the decline came around from the start to the end of the 20th century.^[59]^[60]^[61]^[62] In raw terms for example, infant mortality in England sat around 151 deaths to 1000 live births in 1901 but by the end of the century it had plummeted down to only 6 deaths per 1000 births.^[60]

There are two general lines of thought which are usually taken from into analysing the decline of infant mortality rates, the first line of thought comes from social historians, who ascribe the decline of infant mortality to social phenomenons of the time such as the need for a healthy population for the sake of the nation's fighting capabilities and political issues surrounding women.^[59] The second line of thought comes from demographers themselves which more or less ascribe the decline of infant mortality itself more to the general decline of mortality altogether in the society than any particular reason why.^[59]

Physical unfitness during the Boer War came into national prominence as many recruits came back to be too medically unfit for service.^[62]^[61] With this, In 1904, the Report of the Inter-Departmental Committee on Physical Deterioration was published^[63]^[61]^[62] which listed large amounts of details of the failings of the British population, and for that matter government, in sustaining a healthy population.

The current rate of infant mortality in the United Kingdom is roughly around 3.82 deaths per 1,000 live births.^[2]

Age structure

Population pyramid from 1950 to 2022

Population pyramid projections of the United Kingdom from 2023 up to 2100

Interlinked with fertility and mortality, The age structure of the United Kingdom has varied with how rates of fertility and mortality have changed throughout the country's history. Due to the transition to an industrialised society, the United Kingdom has also undergone a 'demographic transition': that is to say, that it has gone from a high birth rate, high mortality rate society to a low birth rate, low mortality rate society over the space of two centuries.

Before the 18th century, the United Kingdom retained an age structure universal to societies in the first stage of the transition theory, with high fertility rates and high mortality rates,^[5] in the late 18th century, the Industrial Revolution began, kickstarting the country's transition into the second phase: mortality rates declined but birth rates stayed at the same level;^[5] by 1870, the country had begun to transition into the third phase:^[5] the birth rate began to decline from around near 5 children per woman to below replacement level in the 1930s.^[5] The fourth phase of the transition began in the 1960s, when the fertility rate rose, and peaked during the middle of the decade, and then collapsed by 1973 to a below replacement level rate. Since then, the rate has not risen to an above replacement level fertility rate; this has resulted in a population which is currently ageing:^[5] in 2007, for the first time in the country's history, there were more people over the age of 60 than there were under the age of 16.^[64]

Peaks and bands within the population represent different periods in which people were born, for example, a large peak of people in particularly for those aged 70–74 born following the Second World War and a wide band for those aged 50–59, born during the 1960s baby boom. Those aged 80 upwards would have been born in the 1930s baby dearth when the birth rate was below replacement level. On the younger band of the population there is a noticeable gap between the ages of 14 to 20, this due to at the beginning of the 21st century a lower number of children being born (and a subsequent lower TFR), however in the years following the birth rate rose during the 2010s and a 'broadening' of the pyramid began for those in the younger years leading to more children in those age cohorts. In relation to the sex ratio of the country, in the higher ages of the population, there are more women than men reflecting the higher life expectancies of women in the population, in the lower ages there are more men than women because there are slightly more boys than girls born each year.^[65]^[66] In relation to the older age brackets, In 2015, there were estimated to be over half a million people (556,270) aged 90 and over living in the UK, up from 194,670 people in 1985,^[67] and there were estimated to be 14,570 centenarians (people aged 100 or over) and 850 people aged 105 or over.^[68] The Office of National Statistics has also wrote in their mid-2016 report on population projections that the median age of the British population was 40 years of age,^[69] and this will continue to rise as more people in the population age and a below-replacement level fertility level not refilling the population. This will make the number of people aged 85 and over double from 1.6 million in mid-2016 to 3.2 million in mid-2041.^[70]

The demographic ageing of the population is not evenly spread geographically, as people in rural areas are typically of a higher age than those living in metropolitan areas such as Greater London for example.^[64]

Age structure of the population in 2020

0 – 14 years (17.63%)

15 – 24 years (11.49%)

25 – 54 years (39.67%)

55 – 64 years (12.73%)

65+ years (18.48%)

Population pyramids of each constituent country
England (2020 estimate)
Scotland (2020 estimate)
Wales (2020 estimate)
Northern Ireland (2020 estimate)

Age brackets as a percentage of the total population in local authorities in 2021
Under 15 years old
  Less than 15%
  15 to 18%
  18 to 20%
  Above 20%
16 to 64 years old (working age)
  Less than 60%
  60 to 65%
  65 to 70%
  Above 70%
Above the age of 65 years old
  5 to 15%
  15 to 20%
  20 to 25%
  25% and above

Median age 1950–2100

Map of population density in the UK as at the 2011 census

Age structures 1976–2019^[71]^[72]
Ages	1976	1986	1999	2016	2019
0–15 years (%)	24.5	20.5	20.4	18.9	19.0
16–64 years (%)	61.2	64.1	63.8	63.1	62.5
65 years and over (%)	14.2	15.4	15.8	18.0	18.5

Median age of the population^[2]^[73]
Median age	1950	1960	1971	1981	1991	2000	2010	2020	2030	2040	2050	2060	2070	2080	2090	2100
Total	34.9 years	35.6 years	34.1 years	34.5 years	35.8 years	37.6 years	39.6 years	40.6 years	42.4 years	43.8 years	43.9 years	44.7 years	45.5 years	46 years	46.7 years	47.7 years
Male	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	39.6 years	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–
Female	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	41.7 years	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–

Urbanisation and population density

Population density

The United Kingdom is one of the most densely populated countries in Europe, in 2020 it was the 8th most densely populated country.^[74]

The current largest metropolitan areas are listed below:

v t e Largest urban areas of the United Kingdom (England and Wales: 2011 census built-up area;^[75] Scotland: 2016 estimates settlement;^[76] Northern Ireland: 2001 census urban area)^[77]
	Rank	Urban area	Pop.	Principal settlement	Rank	Urban area	Pop.	Principal settlement
Greater London Greater Manchester	1	Greater London	9,787,426	London	11	Bristol	617,280	Bristol	West Midlands West Yorkshire
	2	Greater Manchester	2,553,379	Manchester	12	Edinburgh	512,150	Edinburgh
	3	West Midlands	2,440,986	Birmingham	13	Leicester	508,916	Leicester
	4	West Yorkshire	1,777,934	Leeds	14	Belfast	483,418	Belfast
	5	Greater Glasgow	985,290	Glasgow	15	Brighton & Hove	474,485	Brighton & Hove
	6	Liverpool	864,122	Liverpool	16	Bournemouth/Poole	466,266	Bournemouth
	7	South Hampshire	855,569	Southampton	17	Cardiff	390,214	Cardiff
	8	Tyneside	774,891	Newcastle	18	Teesside	376,633	Middlesbrough
	9	Nottingham	729,977	Nottingham	19	Stoke-on-Trent	372,775	Stoke
	10	Sheffield	685,368	Sheffield	20	Coventry	359,262	Coventry

Urbanisation

Population expansion over time of major cities (excluding London)

Rapid urbanisation began with the onset of the Industrial Revolution in the mid to late 18th century, shifting jobs and more importantly people away from rural Britain's dominance at the time which was primarily agricultural, to manufacturing jobs within urban areas which started to spring up.^[78] In 1750, an estimated total of around only 1 million people lived in some sort of urban area such as a town or city,^[79] which was around 1/6th of the estimated total population but a century later this had risen to 8 million people in 1850,^[79] equating to just over half of the nation.^[78]^[79]

While this mass urbanisation affected pre-existing cities to a large degree such as London, smaller and 'newer' towns were in particular effected by the re-distribution of the population and exploded in raw population growth.^[78] Cities such as Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle for example had an explosive expansion in population numbers around the middle of the 19th century due to the industrial expansion of said cities bringing jobs and again people in for work.^[80]^[79] London during the 19th century become noted as the 'premier city' of the world, being the most populated city from 1825 to 1900^[81] and being the first city in Europe and one of the first in the world to reach the figure of one million inhabitants,^[82] and then 5 million inhabitants.^[81] This urbanisation in the 19th century has had two phases. David Herbert describes the process of the late 19th century and the early 20th century as a "maker and breaker" of the cities in the United Kingdom.^[78] This mass influx of the population into the cities resulted in a centralisation of the population into the inner city areas however by the time of the late 19th century and early 20th century when technological advancements in transport kicked off allowing cities to expand their 'peripherals' from the inner areas to create large scale 'city regions' of their own.^[78] London in particular, is a great example of this in effect, during the 19th century, the majority of people within the city lived in the inner part, however by the 20th century a massive expansion of 'Outer London' began which slowly became larger in population size by the middle of the century than Inner London.

By the end of the 20th century this figure was 80% of the country.^[78] However importance of the capital declined, by the end of the 20th century, London's ranking on the most populated cities of the world had fell down to not even being in the top 20.^[82]

The current classification of an 'urban' area, also termed as a 'built-up area' (BUA)^[83] in the 2011 census, is a settlement which takes variables from both numerical population numbers and population density; in population numbers this is roughly more than or 10,000 people living in a area.^[84]^[85] Anything below that is classified as 'rural', having several levels of distinction to define a rural town and fringe, village or hamlet which is usually taken from population density figures.^[85] These areas are then defined within 'output areas' (OA's) themselves, which are geographic areas of the United Kingdom.^[85]^[83] The population which resides within classified 'urban' areas was 84.4% of total population in 2022 and the annual rate of urbanisation change is estimated to be around 0.8% between 2020 and 2025.^[2]

Crude birth and death rate over time in England and Wales

Vital statistics (1900–2022)

Vital statistics from 1900 to 2022
	Average population^[86]	Live births^[87]	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)^[88]	Crude death rate (per 1000)^[88]	Natural change (per 1000)	Total Fertility Rate^{[fn 2]}^[38]^[2]
1900	41,154,600	1,089,487	695,867	393,620	26.5	16.9	9.6	3.53
1901	41,538,200	1,092,781	655,646	437,135	26.3	15.8	10.5	3.49
1902	41,892,700	1,103,483	636,650	466,833	26.3	15.2	11.1	3.44
1903	42,246,600	1,113,086	613,726	499,360	26.3	14.5	11.8	3.40
1904	42,611,400	1,109,542	651,301	458,241	26	15.3	10.8	3.35
1905	42,980,800	1,092,108	617,516	474,592	25.4	14.4	11	3.30
1906	43,361,100	1,098,475	629,955	468,520	25.3	14.5	10.8	3.24
1907	43,737,800	1,077,851	625,271	452,580	24.6	14.3	10.3	3.19
1908	44,123,800	1,102,345	621,427	480,918	25	14.1	10.9	3.14
1909	44,519,500	1,073,781	614,910	458,871	24.1	13.8	10.3	3.07
1910	44,915,900	1,051,240	578,091	473,149	23.4	12.9	10.5	2.99
1911	42,189,800	1,033,395	620,828	412,567	24.5	14.7	9.8	2.92
1912	42,373,600	1,025,828	580,977	444,851	24.2	13.7	10.5	2.90
1913	42,582,300	1,032,286	600,554	431,732	24.2	14.1	10.1	2.93
1914	42,956,900	1,032,734	611,970	420,764	24	14.2	9.8	2.88
1915	41,361,500	956,877	666,322	290,555	23.1	16.1	7	2.59
1916	40,536,300	922,085	599,621	322,464	22.7	14.8	8	2.60
1917	39,780,700	790,736	589,416	201,320	19.9	14.8	5.1	2.10
1918	39,582,000	787,427	715,246	72,181	19.9	18.1	1.8	2.03
1919	42,944,100	826,202	602,188	224,014	19.2	18.1	5.2	2.31
1920	43,646,400	1,126,849	555,326	571,523	19.2	14	13.1	3.08
1921	43,904,100	1,001,725	544,140	457,585	22.8	12.4	10.4	2.69
1922	44,331,500	924,740	579,480	345,260	20.9	13.1	7.8	2.44
1923	44,563,100	900,130	526,858	373,272	20.2	11.8	8.4	2.38
1924	44,885,600	865,329	563,891	301,438	19.3	12.6	6.7	2.28
1925	45,040,000	842,405	558,132	284,273	18.7	12.4	6.3	2.20
1926	45,217,600	825,174	536,411	288,763	18.2	11.9	6.4	2.15
1927	45,432,000	777,520	568,655	208,865	17.1	12.5	4.6	2.01
1928	45,622,200	783,052	543,664	239,388	17.2	11.9	5.2	2.01
1929	45,731,000	761,963	623,231	138,732	16.7	13.6	3	1.95
1930	45,888,900	769,239	536,860	232,379	16.8	11.7	5.1	1.95
1931	46,073,600	749,974	573,908	176,066	16.3	12.5	3.8	1.89
1932	46,335,000	730,079	567,986	162,093	15.8	12.3	3.5	1.83
1933	46,520,000	691,560	579,467	112,093	14.9	12.5	2.4	1.72
1934	46,666,000	711,483	558,072	153,411	15.2	12	3.3	1.76
1935	46,869,500	711,426	561,324	150,102	15.2	12	3.2	1.75
1936	47,081,300	720,129	580,942	139,187	15.3	12.3	3	1.77
1937	47,288,600	723,779	597,798	125,981	15.3	12.6	2.7	1.79
1938	47,494,100	735,573	559,598	175,975	15.5	11.8	3.7	1.84
1939	47,547,700	726,632	581,857	144,775	15.3	12.2	3.0	1.84
1940	46,026,200	701,875	673,253	28,622	15.2	14.6	0.6	1.74
1941	44,870,400	695,726	627,378	68,348	15.5	14.0	1.5	1.72
1942	44,323,000	771,851	562,356	209,495	17.4	12.7	4.7	1.93
1943	48,261,000	810,524	585,582	224,942	16.8	12.1	4.7	2.03
1944	48,261,600	878,298	573,570	303,728	18.2	11.9	6.3	2.25
1945	48,668,900	795,868	567,027	228,841	16.4	11.7	4.7	2.05
1946	48,987,800	955,266	573,361	381,905	19.5	11.7	7.8	2.47
1947	49,538,700	1,025,427	600,728^[89]	424,699	20.7	12.1	8.6	2.69
1948	50,033,200	905,182	546,002	359,180	18.1	10.9	7.2	2.39
1949	50,331,000	855,298	589,876	265,422	17	11.7	5.3	2.26
1950	50,381,500^[90]	818,421	590,136	228,285	16.2	11.7	4.5	2.08
1951	50,286,900	796,645	632,786	163,859	15.8	12.6	3.3	2.10
1952	50,429,200	792,917	573,806	219,111	15.7	11.4	4.3	2.15
1953	50,592,900	804,269	577,220	227,049	15.9	11.4	4.5	2.20
1954	50,764,900	794,769	578,400	216,369	15.7	11.4	4.3	2.26
1955	50,946,100	789,315	595,916	193,399	15.5	11.7	3.8	2.33
1956	51,183,500	825,137	597,981	227,156	16.1	11.7	4.4	2.40
1957	51,430,200	851,466	591,200	260,266	16.6	11.5	5.1	2.48
1958	51,652,500	870,497	604,040	266,457	16.9	11.7	5.2	2.55
1959	51,956,300	878,561	606,115	272,446	16.9	11.7	5.2	2.63
1960	52,372,500	918,286	603,328	314,958	17.5	11.5	6.0	2.71
1961	52,807,400	944,365	631,788	312,577	17.9	12.0	5.9	2.78
1962	53,291,800	975,635	636,051	339,584	18.3	11.9	6.4	2.87
1963	53,624,900	990,160	654,288	335,872	18.5	12.2	6.3	2.90
1964	53,990,800	1,014,672	611,130	403,542	18.8	11.3	7.5	2.95
1965	54,349,500	997,275	627,798	369,477	18.3	11.6	6.8	2.88
1966	54,642,700	979,587	643,754	335,833	17.9	11.8	6.1	2.80
1967	54,959,000	961,800	616,710	345,090	17.5	11.2	6.3	2.69
1968	55,213,500	947,231	655,998	291,233	17.2	11.9	5.3	2.61
1969	55,460,600	920,256	659,537	260,719	16.6	11.9	4.7	2.51
1970	55,632,200	903,907	655,385	248,522	16.2	11.8	4.5	2.44
1971	55,928,000	901,648	645,078	256,570	16.1	11.5	4.6	2.40
1972	56,096,000	833,984	673,938	160,046	14.9	12.0	2.9	2.20
1973	56,223,000	779,545	669,692	109,853	13.9	11.9	2.0	2.03
1974	56,235,000	737,138	667,359	69,779	13.1	11.9	1.2	1.92
1975	56,225,000	697,518	662,477	35,041	12.4	11.8	0.6	1.81
1976	56,216,000	675,526	680,799	-5,273	12.0	12.1	-0.1	1.74
1977	56,189,000	657,038	655,143	1,895	11.7	11.7	0.0	1.69
1978	56,178,000	686,952	667,177	19,775	12.2	11.9	0.4	1.75
1979	56,240,000	734,572	675,576	58,996	13.1	12.0	1.0	1.86
1980	56,329,000	753,708	661,519	92,189	13.4	11.7	1.6	1.90
1981	56,357,000	730,712	657,974	72,738	13.0	11.7	1.3	1.82
1982	56,290,000	718,999	662,081	56,918	12.8	11.8	1.0	1.78
1983	56,315,000	721,238	659,101	62,137	12.8	11.7	1.1	1.77
1984	56,409,000	729,401	644,918	84,483	12.9	11.4	1.5	1.77
1985	56,554,000	750,520	670,656	79,864	13.3	11.9	1.4	1.79
1986	56,683,000	754,805	660,735	94,070	13.3	11.7	1.7	1.78
1987	56,804,000	775,405	644,342	131,063	13.7	11.3	2.3	1.81
1988	56,916,000	787,303	649,178	138,125	13.8	11.4	2.4	1.82
1989	57,076,000	777,036	657,733	119,303	13.6	11.5	2.1	1.79
1990	57,237,500	798,364	641,799	156,565	13.9	11.2	2.7	1.83
1991	57,438,700	792,269	646,181	146,088	13.8	11.3	2.5	1.82
1992	57,584,500	780,779	634,238	146,541	13.6	11.0	2.5	1.79
1993	57,713,900	761,526	658,194	103,332	13.2	11.4	1.8	1.76
1994	57,862,100	750,480	626,222	124,258	13.0	10.8	2.1	1.74
1995	58,024,800	731,882	641,712	90,170	12.6	11.1	1.6	1.71
1996	58,164,400	733,163	638,879	94,284	12.6	11.0	1.6	1.73
1997	58,314,200	726,622	632,517	94,105	12.5	10.8	1.6	1.72
1998	58,474,900	716,888	627,592	89,296	12.3	10.7	1.5	1.71
1999	58,684,400	699,976	629,476	70,500	11.9	10.7	1.2	1.68
2000	58,886,100	679,029	610,579	68,450	11.5	10.4	1.2	1.64
2001	59,113,000	669,123	604,393	64,730	11.3	10.2	1.1	1.63
2002	59,365,700	668,777	608,045	60,732	11.3	10.2	1.0	1.63
2003	59,636,700	695,549	612,085	83,464	11.7	10.3	1.4	1.70
2004	59,950,400	715,996	584,791	131,205	11.9	9.8	2.2	1.77
2005	60,413,300	722,549	582,964	139,585	12.0	9.6	2.3	1.76
2006	60,827,100	748,563	572,224	176,339	12.3	9.4	2.9	1.82
2007	61,319,100	772,245	574,687	197,558	12.6	9.4	3.2	1.87
2008	61,823,800	794,383	579,697	214,686	12.8	9.4	3.5	1.96
2009	62,260,500	790,204	559,617	230,587	12.7	9.0	3.7	1.89
2010	62,759,500	807,721	561,666	246,055	12.9	8.9	3.9	1.92
2011	63,285,100	807,776	552,232	255,544	12.8	8.7	4.0	1.91
2012	63,705,000	812,970	569,024	243,946	12.8	8.9	3.8	1.92
2013	64,105,700	778,803	575,458	203,345	12.1	9.0	3.2	1.83
2014	64,596,800	776,352	570,341	206,011	12.0	8.8	3.2	1.82
2015	65,110,000	777,165	602,782	174,383	11.9	9.3	2.7	1.80
2016	65,648,100	774,835	595,659	179,176	11.8	9.1	2.7	1.79
2017	66,040,200	755,066	607,172	147,894	11.4	9.2	2.2	1.74
2018	66,435,600	731,213	616,014	115,199	11.0	9.3	1.7	1.68
2019	66,796,800	712,699	604,707	107,992	10.7	9.1	1.6	1.63
2020	67,081,234	681,560	689,629	-8,069	10.2	10.3	-0.1	1.56
2021	67,026,292	694,685	666,659	28,026	10.3	9.9	0.4	1.54^[91]
2022			657,278			9.7

Current vital statistics

Vital statistics for 2022 – 2023
Period	Live births	Deaths^[92]^[93]^[94]	Natural increase
January 2022		60,281
January 2023		76,669
Difference		+16,388 (+27.18%)

Social issues

Marriage, divorce, families and household types

Marriage and divorce

Marriage status of England and Wales in 2020

In 2004, 58% of births were conceived within a married couple, 35% by non-married couples registered by both parents and 7% by non-married mothers who registered the birth alone.^[37]

This varied from each constituent nation, Wales for example had the highest births outside of marriage at 51% in 2004, In England this percentage was 42% and in Scotland 47%. Northern Ireland had the lowest of 35% in 2004.^[37]

Number of marriages in the United Kingdom 1887–2016
Opposite sex marriage rate over time in England and Wales
Number of divorces in England and Wales 1858–2020
Opposite sex divorce rate in England and Wales
Median age at divorce in England and Wales
Culmulative percentage of marriages ending in divorce by year of marriage in England and Wales

Age structure of population groups relating to marriage
Never Married
Married or in Civil partnership
Divorced or dissolved Civil partnership
Widowed or surviving member of Civil partnership

Household and family type

Type of households out of total households in 2021
Family types out of total families in 2021
Percentage of age group living with parents in 2021

Sexual orientation

Sexual identification 2014–2020

The Integrated Household Survey,^[95] published by the Office for National Statistics, provides the following estimates for the adult British population as of 2011:

1.1 per cent (approximately 545,000 adults at the time of the survey) identify as gay or lesbian.
0.4 per cent (approximately 220,000 adults) identify as bisexual.
0.3 per cent identify as "other".
3.6 per cent of those surveyed replied "don't know" or refused to answer the question.
0.6 per cent of those surveyed provided "no response" to the question.
An estimated 2.7 per cent of 16-year-olds to 24-year-olds in the UK identify as gay, lesbian or bisexual compared with 0.4 per cent of those aged over 65.

Other sources provide alternative estimates of the population by sexual orientation. For example, one British journal published in 2004 estimated that approximately 5% of the British population is gay.^[96] A government figure estimated in 2005 that there are 3.6 million gay people in Britain equating to 6 per cent of the population,^[97] though a report by the Equality and Human Rights Commission^[98] described that estimate as 'of questionable validity' when set against available survey estimates.

The Gender Identity Research and Education Society (GIRES) estimated in 2009 that "56,000 might potentially be transsexual people", noting that it is very difficult to make a reliable estimate which would have been 0.09% of the population at the time of the report.^[99]

Out of the 600,000 people in the UK that applied to go to university through UCAS in 2020, 7.2%, or 40,000, described themselves as LGBT on their application form. UCAS estimates this to be a rate 2.5 times higher than the overall UK population. The UCAS report in collaboration with Stonewall also found LGBT students were more likely to come from disadvantaged backgrounds (compared to those who identified as heterosexual or didn't specify), have a disability (compared to non-LGBT students) and have a mental health condition (compared to non-LGBT students).^[100]

Abortion

Percentage of conceptions leading to an abortion overtime from 1969 to 2020

Abortion in the United Kingdom (however not Northern Ireland) was officially legalised in 1967 under the Abortion Act of that year, allowing women for the first time to get an abortion under numerous medical grounds outlined within the act. Previously, this was outlawed under the Offences against the Person Act of 1861 and then the updated Infant Life (Preservation) Act of 1929 which only permitted an abortion if the death of a child was "done in good faith for the purpose only of preserving the life of the mother".

In 2020, the amount of conceptions which led to an abortion was around 25.3%^[101]

Conceptions leading to an abortion from 1969 to 2020^[102]
Year	1969	1971	1976	1981	1986	1991	1996	2001	2006	2011	2016	2020
Percentage of conceptions leading to an abortion	5.98%	11.32%	15.17%	17.09%	18.02%	19.6%	20.55%	23%	22.26%	20.88%	21.5%	25.29%

Health

Death rate and cause

Leading causes of death for males
Leading causes of death for females

Health issues

Variety of health issues in graphs
Obesity rates from 1975 to 2016
Smoking rates from 1974 to 2020
Percentage of the public who consume alcohol weekly from 2005 to 2017
Suicide rate in England and Wales per 100,000 people from 1981 to 2020
Suicide rates regionally in 2020
Total deaths to drug misuse in England and Wales
Drug misuse crude death rate regionally in 2019

Employment and income

The unemployment rate for the youth age bracket of 15–24 was 11.2% in 2019 – 13% for males and 9.2% for females.^[103]

Unemployment rate 1881–2017
Percentage of labour force working in each (broad) sector
UK employment by broad industry sector
UK employment by public or private sector
Average weekly earnings over time (seasonally adjusted)
Average household income 1977–2021
Percentage of young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEET)
Economically inactive percentage of population in local authorities in 2021
Gross disposable household income (GDHI) across the UK mapped in 2020
The Median Individual Disposable income as of 2018
The Median Gross Household Income as of 2018

Migration

Foreign born population of England and Wales over time

Foreign born and UK born population pyramid from 1981 to 2021 in England and Wales

Historical and present net numbers

Migration to the United Kingdom from 1970 to 2021

Migration to the UK has varied through its history. Irish migration from the Great Famine predominated during the 19th century.^[104] Additionally Jewish migration from Russia also arrived famously into Bethnal Green in London.^[104] Refugees from Belgium in the First World War arrived in the first half of the 20th century, however they would return by the wars end.^[104]

Starting from the 1950s onwards, following on from the British Nationality Act of 1948 which de jure allowed the migration of upwards 800,000,000^[105] British subjects who were now British citizens in law, modern mass migration to the United Kingdom began. During this decade West Indians from the Caribbean, those from Jamaica and so on began to arrive.^[106]

During the middle of the 1960s to the 70s, migration flipped in origin to the majority of those arriving being of South Asian origin from the Indian sub-continent. Immigration restrictions, in response to the ever increasing number arriving, were introduced, such as the Commonwealth Immigrants Act of 1962, Commonwealth Immigrants Act of 1968 and the Immigration Act of 1971.^[107]^[106]

Through the 1970s, 80s and early 90s, net migration to the United Kingdom was often negative in terms of numbers, with more people leaving the country, than entering in total.

Since 1994, net migration in numbers has been in the positives, with more people entering the country, rather than leaving.^[25] Migration increased fourfold following the election of Tony Blair in 1997,^[108]^[109] immigration restrictions were undone such as the primary purpose rule.^[110]

In 2004, along with Ireland and Sweden, Britain was one of the only countries within the EU to not allow 'transitional controls' on migration flows from the newly joined A8 countries from Eastern Europe.^[111]^[112] Around 453,000 immigrants, which has been revised upwards in recent years,^[112]^[113] from these new counties were estimated in 2015 to have migrated to the UK.^[114]

Country of birth

Country of birth was first asked as a census question in 1841.^[115]

Rank	Country of birth	Population^[116]
1	India	863,000
2	Poland	818,000
3	Pakistan	547,000
4	Romania	427,000
5	Ireland	360,000
6	Germany	289,000
7	Bangladesh	260,000
8	South Africa	252,000
9	Italy	233,000
10	China	217,000
11	Nigeria	215,000
12	France	185,000
13	Lithuania	168,000
14	Portugal	165,000
15	United States	161,000
16	Spain	159,000
17	Australia	153,000
18	Philippines	153,000
19	Zimbabwe	128,000
20	Bulgaria	128,000
21	Sri Lanka	126,000
22	Jamaica	123,000
23	Kenya	121,000
24	Ghana	114,000
25	Brazil	101,000
26	Somalia	99,000
27	Hungary	98,000
28	Canada	95,000
29	Latvia	89,000
30	Afghanistan	79,000
31	Nepal	76,000
32	Iran	72,000
33	Slovakia	72,000
34	Turkey	71,000
35	Netherlands	68,000
36	Iraq	67,000
37	New Zealand	67,000
38	Greece	66,000
39	Malaysia	61,000
40	Russia	59,000
41	Cyprus	57,000
42	Thailand	54,000
43	Uganda	52,000
44	Taiwan	49,000
45	Syria	48,000
46	Albania	47,000
47	Singapore	44,000
48	Czech Republic	44,000
49	Sweden	42,000
50	Egypt	39,000
51	Japan	39,000
52	Ukraine	38,000
53	Colombia	38,000
54	Belgium	35,000
55	Mauritius	34,000
56	Saudi Arabia	33,000
57	Sudan	33,000
58	Kosovo	29,000
59	Zambia	29,000
60	Malta	27,000
61	Vietnam	27,000

Percentage born to foreign born mothers in England and Wales

In the 1980s to 1990s, around 12 to 13% of births were born to foreign born mothers. In 2004, this had risen to 20% of births being born to foreign born mothers.^[37]

Below is the number of births in England and Wales in 2011 by mother's country of birth, as well as their total fertility rate.^[117] In 2014, 27% of births were to mothers born outside the UK, a 0.5-point increase since 2013. The 2014 fertility rate was higher for foreign-born mothers (2.09) than British-born mothers (1.76). In the 2010–14 time period, the most common countries of birth for mothers (excluding the UK) were Poland, Pakistan and India; and Poland and India for fathers. Within the UK, Newham, London had the highest rate of births to non-UK mothers (76.7%) and Torfaen, Wales the lowest (3.2%).^[118] The fertility rate among non-UK born women was 1.98 and among UK born women 1.50 in 2020.

Country of birth	Year
	1951^[119]		1961^[119]		1971^[120]		1981^[121]		1991^[122]		2001^[119]		2011^[119]
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%

Europe	–	–	–	–	52,325,821	96.71%	52,939,273	96.13%	53,960,525	95.57%	–	–

United Kingdom	48,168,300	95.8%	50,233,900	95.1%	51,016,100	94.29%	51,706,978	93.89%	52,659,965	93.27%	54,216,400	91.7%	55,188,698	87.34%
Other Europe	–	–	–	–	1,309,721	2.4%	1,232,295,	2.2%	1,300,560	2.3%
Republic of Ireland	–	–	–	–	693,435	1.28%	607,428	1.10%	627,930	1.11%
Other EEC/EU	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	497,985	0.88%
Other Europe	–	–	–	–	616,286	1.13%	624,867	1.13%	174,645	0.30%
Asia	–	–	–	–	547,340	1.01%	765,383	1.38%	925,725	1.63%	–	–
Republic of India	–	–	–	–	313,630	0.57%	391,874	0.71%	410,008	0.72%
Republic of Pakistan	–	–	–	–	137,112	0.25%	188,198	0.34%	234,312	0.41%
Republic of Bangladesh	–	–	–	–	–	–	48,517	–	105,066	0.18%
China	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	23,998	–
Other Asia	–	–	–	–	96,598	0.17%	136,794	0.24%	152,341	0.26%
Africa	–	–	–	–	155,738	0.28%	290,453	0.52%	332,195	0.58%	–	–
East Africa	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	221,170	0.39%
Other Africa	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	111,025	0.2%
Caribbean and Americas	–	–	–	–	296,347	0.54%	295,179	0.53%	264,781	0.46%	–	–
Old Commonwealth	–	–	–	–	136,148	0.25%	152,747	0.27%	180,828	0.32%	–	–
Other (New Commonwealth)	–	–	–	–	114,521	0.21%	162,358	0.29%	194,647	0.34%	–	–
Other: Total^[123]	–	–	–	–	526,587	0.97%	461,410	0.83%	600,065	1.06%	–	–

Foreign born: Total	2,118,600	4.2%	2,573,500	4.9%	3,190,300	5.8%	3,429,100	6.2%	3,835,400	6.7%	4,896,600	8.3%	7,993,480	12.7%

Total:	50,286,900	100%	52,807,400	100%	54,102,502	100%	55,066,803	100%	56,458,766	100%	59,113,000	100%	63,182,178	100%

TFR by country of birth^[124]^{[fn 3]}^{[fn 4]}
Country of birth	Year
Country of birth	1971	1979	1981	1983	1985	1987	1989	1991	1993	1995	1997	2001

United Kingdom	2.30	–	1.70	1.70	1.70	1.80	1.80	1.80	1.70	1.70	1.65	1.6
New Commonwealth	4.00	3.50	2.90	2.80	2.90	2.80	2.70	2.90	2.80	2.96	3.09	2.8
India	4.30	3.90	3.10	2.80	2.90	2.70	2.40	2.60	2.20	2.19	2.32	2.3
Pakistan, Bangladesh	9.30	7.10	6.50	6.10	5.60	5.20	4.70	5.00	5.10	5.20	–	–
Pakistan	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	4.8	–	–	5.30	4.7
Bangladesh	–	–	–	–	–	–	–	3.9	–	–	4.83	3.9
East Africa	2.7	–	2.1	2	2.1	1	1.9	2	1.7	1.8	1.76	1.6
Other Africa	4.2	–	3.4	3.1	3	3.2	4.2	3.1	3.1	3.58	3.52	2.0
West Indies	3.4	2.5	2	1.8	1.8	1.9	1.6	1.9	1.8	2.33	2.57	–
Mediterranean	–	–	2.1	2.1	2.2	2	1.9	2.1	1.7	1.89	1.8	–
Hong Kong, Far East	2.70	–	1.7	1.9	2	1.8	1.7	1.8	1.6	1.6	1.39	–
Other New Commonwealth	–	–	2.3	2.4	2.3	2.5	2.4	2.2	2	2.63	2.94	2.2
Rest of the World	–	–	2.00	1.90	2.00	1.90	1.90	1.90	1.90	2.04	2.09	1.8

Total:	2.38	1.84	1.80	1.76	1.78	1.81	1.80	1.82	1.77	1.72	1.73	1.65

Population groups by country of birth distributed in 2011 (if not noted)
Foreign born population in the UK in 2021
Born in Poland
Born in Lithuania
Born in France
Born in South Africa

Internal

Population movements of the country have fluctuated over time, in the 19th century with the urbanisation of the country, large amounts of people moved to the capital and the nearby industrial cities, but in recent years there has been a general trend of 'de-urbanisation' as parts of the population have moved back to the countryside. An example of recent large scale internal movement in the 21st century has been the departure of 220,000 White British Londoners to other areas of rural England and Wales over the 2000s^[125] and over the 2010s around a total of 550,000 people left the city.^[126] Demographically by age, the people leaving the city more than entering tend to be in their 30s and 40s while people entering in their 20s.^[126]

Ethnicity

Ethnic demographic breakdown

Ethnic demography of the United Kingdom from 1951 to 2011

Ethnic Group	Year
	1991^[127]^{[t 1]}		2001^[128]^[129]^[130]		2011^[131]^[132]^[133]^[134]		2016 estimates^[135]
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%

White: Total	51,873,794	94.5%	54,153,898	92.12%	55,073,145	87.2%	56,668,000	86.32%
White: British	–	–	52,728,717	89.7%	52,320,080	82.8%	52,501,000	79.97%
White: Irish	837,464	1.52%	52,728,717	89.7%	52,320,080	82.8%	–	–
White: Gypsy / Traveller / Irish Traveller	–	–	1,710	–	62,981	0.1%	–	–
White: Other	–	–	1,423,471	2.42%	2,690,084	4.3%	4,167,000^{[t 2]}	6.34%
Asian / Asian British: Total	1,834,117	3.34%	2,578,826	4.39%	4,373,661	6.9%	4,722,000	7.19%
Asian / Asian British: Indian	840,255	1.53%	1,053,411	1.79%	1,452,156	2.3%	–	–
Asian / Asian British: Pakistani	476,555	0.86%	747,285	1.27%	1,174,602	1.9%	–	–
Asian / Asian British: Bangladeshi	162,835	0.29%	283,063	0.48%	451,741	0.7%	–	–
Asian / Asian British: Chinese^{[t 3]}	156,938	0.28%	247,403	0.42%	433,444	0.7%	–	–
Asian / Asian British: Other Asian	197,534	0.35%	247,664	0.42%	861,718	1.4%	–	–
Black / Black British: Total^{[t 4]}	890,727	1.62%	1,148,738	1.95%	1,905,506	3%	2,065,000	3.15%
Black / Black British: African	212,362	0.38%	485,277	0.83%	1,021,973	1.6%	–	–
Black / Black British: Caribbean	499,964	0.91%	565,876	0.96%	599,197	0.9%	–	–
Black / Black British: Other Black	178,401	0.32%	97,585	0.17%	284,336	0.5%	–	–
Mixed / British Mixed	–	–	677,117	1.15%	1,250,414	2%	1,062,000	1.62%
Other: Total	290,206	0.52%	230,615	0.39%	580,049	0.9%	1,131,000	1.72%

Total:	54,888,844	100%	58,789,194	100%	63,182,775	100%	65,648,000	100%

Note:

^ For 1991, Only data from Great Britain itself has been used, due to Northern Ireland not conducting an question on ethnicity within there. If Northern Ireland population data was added in as substitute as the jurisdiction had virtually no ethnic minorities during that period, the White population would rise to 94.65% of the population.
^ Number is an amalgamated amount of all Other Whites
^ In 2001, listed under the "Other ethnic group" heading.
^ For the purpose of harmonising results to make them comparable across the UK, the ONS includes individuals in Scotland who classified themselves in the "African" category (29,638 people), which in the Scottish version of the census is separate from "Caribbean or Black" (6,540 people),^[136] in this "Black or Black British" category. The ONS note that "the African categories used in Scotland could potentially capture White/Asian/Other African in addition to Black identities".^[137]

Ethnicities of United Kingdom and in its constituent countries
England
Wales
Scotland
Northern Ireland

Estimates and census figures of the growth of the ethnic minority population in the United Kingdom^[138]^{[fn 5]}
Ethnic minority	Year
Ethnic minority	1951*	1961*	1971*	1981*	1986*	1991	1993*	1998*	2000*	2001	2011
Number	50,000	400,000	1,370,000	2,090,000	2,470,000	3,015,050	3,200,000	3,700,000	4,040,000	4,635,296	8,108,626
%	0.1%	0.8%	2.5%	3.9%	4.5%	5.5%	5.7%	6.5%	7.1%	7.88%	12.83%

Geographic distribution

Distribution of ethnic groups within the United Kingdom in the 2011 census
White: Total (87.12%)
White: British (81.5%)^{[fn 6]}
White: Irish (0.95%)^{[fn 7]}
Asian/Asian British: Total (6.92%)
Asian/Asian British: Indian (2.3%)
Asian/Asian British: Pakistani (1.86%)
Asian/Asian British: Bangladeshi (0.71%)
Asian/Asian British: Chinese (0.69%)
Asian/Asian British: Other Asian (1.36%)
Black/Black British: Total (3.01%)
Black/Black British: Caribbean (0.94%)
Other: Arab (0.40%)

Age structure of ethnic groups

Population pyramid of England and Wales by ethnicity in 2021

Ethnic composition by age group of England and Wales from 1991 to 2021

Age structure of ethnic groups in England and Wales in the 2021 census
White: Total
White British
White Irish
Other White
Ethnic minority: Total
Asian/Asian British: Total
Asian/Asian British: Indian
Asian/Asian British: Pakistani
Asian/Asian British: Bangladeshi
Asian/Asian British: Chinese
Other Asian
Black: Total
Black/Black British: Caribbean
Black/Black British: African
Other Blacks
Mixed/British Mixed: Total
Other ethnic group: Total
Other: Any other ethnic group
Other: Arab

Ethnicity of school pupils

Ethnicity of school pupils in Great Britain over time

Ethnicity of school pupils in Great Britain
Ethnic group	School year^[139]^[140]^[141]^[142]
	2004		2008		2012		2016		2021
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%

White: Total	6,648,681	84.2%	6,406,400	82.9%	6,204,628	80.3%	6,245,235	77.8%	7,001,982	73.5%
White: British	6,468,459	82%	6,132,309	79.4%	5,867,768	75.9%	5,763,533	71.8%	6,313,543	66.3%
White: Irish	26,100	0.3%	23,620	0.3%	21,805	0.3%	21,127	0.3%	22,994	0.2%
White: Roma/Irish Traveller	6,500	-	13,295	0.2%	21,308	0.3%	29,184	0.4%	36,845	0.4%
White: Other	147,622	1.9%	237,176	3.1%	293,747	3.8%	431,391	5.4%	628,600	6.6%
Asian / Asian British: Total	491,953	6.2%	587,288	7.6%	685,135	8.9%	792,382	9.9%	1,083,920	11.4%
Asian / Asian British: Indian	156,563	2%	165,320	2.1%	175,964	2.3%	203,785	2.5%	299,136	3.1%
Asian / Asian British: Pakistani	189,283	2.4%	226,285	2.9%	267,230	3.5%	309,078	3.8%	398,789	4.2%
Asian / Asian British: Bangladeshi	72,473	0.9%	90,161	1.2%	106,800	1.4%	121,100	1.5%	156,301	1.64%
Asian / Asian British: Chinese	25,902	0.3%	27,893	0.4%	28,766	0.4%	33,342	0.4%	53,318	0.55%
Asian / Asian British: Other Asians	47,732	0.6%	77,629	1%	106,375	1.4%	125,077	1.6%	176,376	1.85%
Black / Black British: Total	247,024	3.1%	298,391	3.9%	348,918	4.5%	400,528	5%	502,344	5.2%
Black: Caribbean	96,695	1.22%	92,876	1.2%	92,076	1.2%	87,057	1.1%	84,024	0.88%
Black: African	122,429	1.55%	172,400	2.2%	215,812	2.8%	263,079	3.3%	352,285	3.7%
Black: Other Blacks	27,900	0.35%	33,115	0.4%	41,030	0.5%	50,392	0.6%	66,035	0.69%
Mixed / British Mixed	186,314	2.4%	242,511	3.1%	305,936	4%	382,730	4.8%	583,723	6.1%
Other: Total	82,280	1%	84,095	1.1%	104,187	1.3%	129,536	1.6%	199,770	2.1%
Unclassified	230,573	2.9%	104,012	1.3%	77,862	1%	81,146	1%	153,499	1.6%

Total:	7,891,306	100%	7,723,472	100%	7,726,651	100%	8,031,557	100%	9,526,070	100%

Ethnicity of school pupils with England and its administrative districts in the school year of 2021/2022
White: 71.4%
White British: 63.9%

Ethnicity of live births and total fertility rate

Ethnicity of live births in England and Wales^[143]
Ethnic Group	Year
	2005^[144]		2011		2015		2019
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%

White: Total	451,514	69.5% (80.3%)	536,021	74.49%	507,829	72.29%	452,248	70.67%
White: British	418,052	64.4% (75.2%^{[fn 8]})	476,328	66.19%	432,114	62.05%	374,056	58.45%
White: Other	33,462	5.1%	59,693	8.29%	75,715	10.87%	78,192	12.22%
Asian / Asian British: Total	56,065	8.7%	76,599	10.64%	76,976	11.05%	73,874	11.54%
Asian / Asian British: Indian	16,053	2.5%	22,725	3.15%	21,582	3.09%	20,627	3.22%
Asian / Asian British: Pakistani	24,290	3.7%	27,948	3.88%	28,142	4.04%	27,573	4.31%
Asian / Asian British: Bangladeshi	8,241	1.3%	9,847	1.36%	9,889	1.42%	9,505	1.49%
Other Asians	7,481	1.2%	16,079	2.23%	17,363	2.49%	16,169	2.52%
Black / Black British: Total	32,701	5%	36,151	5.02%	33,461	4.8%	30,846	4.81%
Black: African	19,756	3%	24,457	3.39%	23,483	3.37%	21,589	3.37%
Black: Caribbean	7,517	1.2%	6,943	0.96%	5,964	0.85%	5,480	0.86%
Other Blacks	5,428	0.8%	4,751	0.66%	4,014	0.57%	3,777	0.59%
Mixed / British Mixed	22,606	3.5%	34,643	4.81%	40,433	5.8%	41,918	6.54%
Other: Total	15,232	2.4%	13,320	1.85%	15,625	2.24%	15,523	2.42%
Not Stated	70,303	10.8%	22,848	3.17%	22,041	3.16%	25,578	4.00%

Total:	649,371	100%	719,582	100%	696,365	100%	639,987	100%

Percentage of births by ethnic group within the United Kingdom in 2021
White British (62.2%, including non-stated)

Future projections

Future ethnic projections based on Coleman, 2010

Numerous predictions and projections of the future ethnic demography of the United Kingdom have been made over the years.

In 2010, academic David Coleman produced research postulating a future demographic decline of the White British in Britain, indicating that they would become a minority in Birmingham and London during the 2020s.^[145] He also estimated that around 2056 to 2066, the trend of a declining share of the white populace will result in the United Kingdom having an overall white minority.^[146]^[147]

In Prospect, he outlined four projections for a majority-minority scenario within the United Kingdom;^[148]

If net immigration trends (in 2010) continued its overall trend of 254,000 a year and net emigration of the White British was 74,000 a year (180,000 per year), the White British would decline to 59% of the total population by 2051, 'Other Whites' projected to be at 10% and non-Whites projected to be 31% of the population. By 2066 this would inevitably lead to the White British being a minority of the population.
If migration to the United Kingdom was to decline to a net inflow of 80,000 per year, the White British would be 63% of the population by 2051 and would fall below 50% in 2080.
Using a cross-party group of MP's recommendation of 'balanced migration', where there is neither a net inflow or outflow, where immigration only consists of 74,000 a year and emigration of the White British the same, the White British would be 67% of the population by 2051 and then fall below 50% by the end of the century.
If there is no emigration of citizens and no immigration to the United Kingdom ('natural change' scenario), then the White British would remain at around 80% of the population by 2051 and would still remain the majority by the end of the century, albeit a reduced percentage (roughly around 75 - 70%)
A fifth estimate, made by the Philip Rees and the University of Leeds, estimate that if assumptions about ethnic self-identification are taken into account, and that there is a net outflow of citizens at 38,000 a year, most of which are non-white and long term net migration like mentioned turns negative, this would result in the White British remaining at around 80% of the population by 2051, 20% of which would be ethnic minorities and 15% of that 20% would be non-white.

Population groupings over time with projections up to 2051 by David Coleman (2010)
White population over time
Ethnic minority population (non-whites)

Religion

Religious affiliation in Great Britain over time

Non-Christian population percentage growth in England and Wales

Religious makeup of England and Wales in age groups from 2001 to 2021

In 2001, the question of religious adherence was asked for the first time since 1851 in the United Kingdom Census.^[149]

The traditional religion in the United Kingdom is Christianity. In England the established church is the Church of England (Anglican). In Scotland, the Church of Scotland (a Presbyterian Church) is regarded as the 'national church' but there is not an established church.

In Wales there is no established church, with the Church in Wales having been disestablished in 1920. Likewise, in Ireland, the Church of Ireland was disestablished in 1871. In Northern Ireland and parts of Western Scotland there are lingering sectarian divides between Roman Catholic and Protestant communities.^[150]

The table below shows data regarding religion for the 2001 and 2011 censuses:

Religion	2001^[151]^[152]^[153]^[154]		2011^[155]^[156]^[157]^[158]
Religion	Number	%	Number	%
Christian	42,079,417	71.58%	37,583,962	59.49%
Muslim	1,591,126	2.71%	2,786,635	4.41%
Hindu	558,810	0.95%	835,394	1.32%
Sikh	336,149	0.57%	432,429	0.68%
Jewish	266,740	0.45%	269,568	0.43%
Buddhist	151,816	0.26%	261,584	0.41%
Other religion	178,837	0.30%	262,774	0.42%
No religion			16,221,509	25.67%
Religion not stated			4,528,323	7.17%
(No religion and Religion not stated)	13,626,299	23.18%	20,749,832	32.84%
Total population	58,789,194	100.00%	63,182,178	100.00%

Religion in the 2011 census
Christians (59.5%)

Population pyramid of England and Wales by religion in 2021

Religious groups population pyramids in England and Wales in 2021
Christian
No Religion
None stated/answered
Muslim
Hindu
Sikh
Buddhist
Jewish
Other Religion

In the 2011 Census, rather than select one of the specified religions offered on the Census form, many people chose to write in their own religion. Some of these religions were reassigned to one of the main religions offered. In England and Wales, 241,000 people belonged to religious groups which did not fall into any of the main religions.^[159] The largest of these were Pagans (56,620), Spiritualists (39,061) and Jains (20,288).^[160] Despite its high-profile nature there were only 2,418 Scientologists.^[161] The census also recorded 176,632 people stating their religion as Jedi Knight and 6,242 people as Heavy Metal^[162] after a campaign by Metal Hammer.^[160] These returns were classified as "No religion", along with Atheist, Agnostic, Humanist, and Free Thinker.^[162] Those who ticked Heathen who had been categorised as no religion in 2001 were categorised as other.^[162] It is unclear how the ONS treated people who ticked "Other" but did not write in any religion.^[162]

In 2012 the British Social Attitudes Survey found the highest number to be non-religious (48%) followed by Christians (46%) with another six per cent identifying otherwise. Discrepancies found between surveys may be the result of differences in phrasing, question order, and data collection method.^[163]

Future projections

Pew Research Center has found that by 2050 on all scenario's, the Islamic population of the United Kingdom will rise, depending on the scenario the percentage of the population which will be Islamic will either be 9.7% in a zero migration scenario, 16.7% in a medium migration scenario or 17.2% in a high migration scenario.^[164]

Languages

The United Kingdom's de facto official language is English which is spoken as a first language by 95% of the population. Six regional languages—Scots, Ulster-Scots, Welsh, Cornish, Irish and Scottish Gaelic—are protected under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Abilities in these languages (other than Cornish) for those aged three and above were recorded in the census of 2011 as follows.^[165]^[166]^[167]

Ability	2011
	Wales		Scotland				Northern Ireland
	Welsh		Scottish Gaelic		Scots		Irish		Ulster-Scots
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Understands but does not speak, read or write	157,792	5.15%	23,357	0.46%	267,412	5.22%	70,501	4.06%	92,040	5.30%
Speaks, reads and writes	430,717	14.06%	32,191	0.63%	1,225,622	23.95%	71,996	4.15%	17,228	0.99%
Speaks but does not read or write	80,429	2.63%	18,966	0.37%	179,295	3.50%	24,677	1.42%	10,265	0.59%
Speaks and reads but does not write	45,524	1.49%	6,218	0.12%	132,709	2.59%	7,414	0.43%	7,801	0.45%
Reads but does not speak or write	44,327	1.45%	4,646	0.09%	107,025	2.09%	5,659	0.33%	11,911	0.69%
Other combination of skills	40,692	1.33%	1,678	0.03%	17,381	0.34%	4,651	0.27%	959	0.06%
No skills	2,263,975	73.90%	5,031,167	98.30%	3,188,779	62.30%	1,550,813	89.35%	1,595,507	91.92%
Total	3,063,456	100.00%	5,118,223	100.00%	5,118,223	100.00%	1,735,711	100.00%	1,735,711	100.00%
Can speak	562,016	18.35%	57,602	1.13%	1,541,693	30.12%	104,943	6.05%	35,404	2.04%
Has some ability	799,481	26.10%	87,056	1.70%	1,929,444	37.70%	184,898	10.65%	140,204	8.08%

Cornish is spoken by around 2,500 people. In the 2011 census, 464 respondents aged three and over in Cornwall said that Cornish was their main language, amounting to 0.09% of the total population of Cornwall aged three and over.

Distribution of those who stated they could speak a regional language in the 2011 census.

Welsh
Scots
Scottish Gaelic
Irish
Ulster-Scots

After English, Polish was the second most common language given in the United Kingdom census 2011. 618,091 respondents aged three and over said that Polish was their main language, amounting to 1.01% of the total population of the United Kingdom aged three and over.

The French language is spoken in some parts of the Channel Islands although the islands, like the Isle of Man, are not part of the United Kingdom.^[168]British Sign Language is also common.

National identity

Respondents to the 2011 UK census gave their national identities as follows.^[169]^[170]^[171]

National identity	Years
	2011
	United Kingdom	Country
	United Kingdom	England	Scotland	Wales	N. Ireland
English only	51.41%	60.38%	2.28%	11.22%	0.60%
Scottish only	5.93%	0.79%	62.43%	0.50%	0.37%
Welsh only	3.26%	0.55%	0.15%	57.51%	0.06%
Northern Irish only	0.81%	0.21%	0.33%	0.14%	20.94%
British only	18.77%	19.19%	8.37%	16.95%	39.89%
+ English and British only	7.82%	9.09%	1.26%	1.54%	0.27%
+ Scottish and British only	1.67%	0.15%	18.29%	0.07%	0.09%
+ Welsh and British only	0.44%	0.11%	0.06%	7.11%	0.02%
Northern Irish and British only	0.22%	0.03%	0.15%	0.02%	6.17%
Other combination of UK identities only (excludes Irish)	0.45%	0.37%	1.01%	1.10%	0.13%
Other identity and at least one UK identity	0.97%	0.90%	1.25%	0.43%	3.05%
Irish only	1.31%	0.64%	0.41%	0.32%	25.26%
Other	6.94%	7.59%	4.01%	3.10%	3.12%
Total	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%	100.00%

Education

Qualification of England and Wales in 2021. See description of the file for explanatory notes.

Literacy rates within the United Kingdom

In the present day each country of the United Kingdom has a separate education system, with power over education matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland being devolved.

Universal state education in England and Wales was introduced for primary level in 1870 and secondary level in 1900.^[172] Education is mandatory from the ages of 5 to 18, The majority of children are educated in state-sector schools,^[173] only a small proportion of which select on the grounds of academic ability. Despite a fall in actual numbers, the proportion of children in England attending private schools rose slightly from 7.1% to 7.3% between 2004 and 2007.^[173]

Scotland first legislated for universal provision of education in 1696. Four percent of children in Scotland attend private schools, a rate which has remained relatively stable since 2015.^[174]^[175]

In Wales, one of the most notable distinctive features of education in Wales is the emphasis on the Welsh language – lessons in which are compulsory for all until the age of 16. Whilst a significant minority of students (15.7% in the 2014\15 academic year) are taught primarily through the medium of Welsh.^[176]

Notes and references

Notes

^ Note: Crude migration change (per 1000) is a trend analysis, an extrapolation based average population change (current year minus previous) minus natural change of the current year (see table vital statistics). As average population is an estimate of the population in the middle of the year and not end of the year.
^ In fertility rates, 2.1 and above is a stable population and has been marked blue, 2 and below leads to an aging population and the result is that the population decreases.
^ Note: This table has been suggested by the author of the study that it can be correlated with the table on TFR's on different ethnic groups, see below section for said table
^ Note: discontinuity in estimates from 1993 to 1996. This increase in total fertility arises from a re-basing of the population estimates for ethnic minorities from the results of the 1991 census. These fertility estimates were not published in 1998–2000 and the only years for which estimates are now published are 1991 and 2001.
^ Ethnic minority population has been defined historically in different terms but refers to individuals who are 'non-white'. Starred years are estimates of the total population of ethnic minorities in the country while non-starred are census year figures.
^ Percentage for Great Britain, not the entirety of the United Kingdom
^ Percentage for Great Britain, not the entirety of the United Kingdom
^ Report states that births in which no ethnicity was stated were usually White British. If assumptions about all non-stated births are actually White British, the percentage of the group rises to 75.2% of births in 2005 and 80.3% White overall.

References

^ "UK Population Estimates (June 2021) – Office of National Statistics". Ond.gov.uk.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "World Factbook EUROPE : United Kingdom", The World Factbook, 12 July 2018
^ "Main comparisons: Population and Migration". Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.
^

May 04, 2023

[132] For 1991, Only data from Great Britain itself has been used, due to Northern Ireland not conducting an question on ethnicity within there. If Northern Ireland population data was added in as substitute as the jurisdiction had virtually no ethnic minorities during that period, the White population would rise to 94.65% of the population.

[141] Number is an amalgamated amount of all Other Whites

[142] In 2001, listed under the "Other ethnic group" heading.

[145] For the purpose of harmonising results to make them comparable across the UK, the ONS includes individuals in Scotland who classified themselves in the "African" category (29,638 people), which in the Scottish version of the census is separate from "Caribbean or Black" (6,540 people),^[136] in this "Black or Black British" category. The ONS note that "the African categories used in Scotland could potentially capture White/Asian/Other African in addition to Black identities".^[137]

[30] Note: Crude migration change (per 1000) is a trend analysis, an extrapolation based average population change (current year minus previous) minus natural change of the current year (see table vital statistics). As average population is an estimate of the population in the middle of the year and not end of the year.

[90] In fertility rates, 2.1 and above is a stable population and has been marked blue, 2 and below leads to an aging population and the result is that the population decreases.

[127] Note: This table has been suggested by the author of the study that it can be correlated with the table on TFR's on different ethnic groups, see below section for said table

[128] Note: discontinuity in estimates from 1993 to 1996. This increase in total fertility arises from a re-basing of the population estimates for ethnic minorities from the results of the 1991 census. These fertility estimates were not published in 1998–2000 and the only years for which estimates are now published are 1991 and 2001.

[147] Ethnic minority population has been defined historically in different terms but refers to individuals who are 'non-white'. Starred years are estimates of the total population of ethnic minorities in the country while non-starred are census year figures.

[148] Percentage for Great Britain, not the entirety of the United Kingdom

[149] Percentage for Great Britain, not the entirety of the United Kingdom

[156] Report states that births in which no ethnicity was stated were usually White British. If assumptions about all non-stated births are actually White British, the percentage of the group rises to 75.2% of births in 2005 and 80.3% White overall.

[1] "UK Population Estimates (June 2021) – Office of National Statistics". Ond.gov.uk.

[cia.gov-2] "World Factbook EUROPE : United Kingdom", The World Factbook, 12 July 2018

[3] "Main comparisons: Population and Migration". Office for National Statistics. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 23 June 2016.

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History

Before the census, 200–1800

Census established and the demographic transition, 1800 – 2000

Modern century, 2000–present

Population

Population by constituent country

Population change over time

Future projections

Fertility

Mother's mean age at first birth

Family size

Life expectancy

Infant mortality

Age structure

Urbanisation and population density

Population density

Urbanisation

Vital statistics (1900–2022)

Current vital statistics

Social issues

Marriage, divorce, families and household types

Marriage and divorce

Household and family type

Sexual orientation

Abortion

Health

Death rate and cause

Health issues

Employment and income

Migration

Historical and present net numbers

Country of birth

Internal

Ethnicity

Ethnic demographic breakdown

Future projections

Religion

Future projections

Languages

National identity

Education

See also

Notes and references

Notes

References

article