Census 2021 - Demography and Migration statistics

Friday 4 November 2022 6pm

On Wednesday the Office for National Statistics (ONS) started its second phase of publishing Census 2021 outputs with data on migration, country of birth and household size and structure.  This phase – which will see releases over the next few months – includes statistics below Local Authority level for the first time.

The Intelligence Unit are looking at the data now and will publish a summary of key statistics and headlines next week.   

Some initial headlines:

• Total population of 187,000 residents living in 82,800 households - a slower growth than expected during the last decade
• Similar to neighbouring districts, the average (median) age of a Herefordshire resident was 48 – compared to 40 nationally
• 9 out of 10 residents were born in the UK. Of those who weren’t, almost half were born in the mainly eastern European countries that joined the EU after 2004
• Almost half of adults in households were in an opposite-sex, married couple.
• Almost one third of households were made up of one person living alone – half of whom were aged over 65.

In the meantime, you can explore the data yourself using the Census maps on the ONS website.  These new interactive maps compare Herefordshire to the rest of England and Wales, and you can zoom in to the smallest statistical geographies (output areas).  Please note that this phase does not include wards or parishes – we will be considering how best to look at these once we know more about ONS’ plans for these vital local geographies.

You can also view our summary of the Census population and household estimates for Herefordshire county that was published in June.

The next release from ONS is statistics on UK Armed Forces Veterans on 10 November.