Population
Herefordshire is a predominantly rural county, with the fourth lowest population density in England (88 people per square kilometre).
As of mid-2018, Herefordshire's resident population was estimated to be 192,100. Migration has been the sole driver of this population growth since the early 90s, as there have been fewer births than deaths.
The county has a relatively older age structure compared with nationally with almost a quarter (24%) of the population are aged 65 or over. The county also has higher proportions of older working age adults (mid-forties to the age of 64) but lower proportions of younger working age adults (from the age of 16 to mid-forties). Numbers of older people are set to continue growing at a higher rate than the younger age groups.
Related documents
- Components of population change In Herefordshire, 2001-18 - File type: XLSX Size: 28KB
- Forecast analysis tool - File type: XLSX Size: 5.11MB
- Future population of Herefordshire report - File type: PDF Size: 287KB
- Herefordshire population 1951-2011 (censuses by parish) - File type: XLS Size: 84KB
- Herefordshire Small Area Population Estimates 2018 - File type: XLS Size: 734KB
- Mid-year population estimates for Herefordshire, 2018 - File type: XLSX Size: 197KB
- Population pyramid and chart, mid-2017 - File type: XLSX Size: 84KB
Ageing population
Herefordshire has higher proportions of residents in their early fifties and above than England and Wales as a whole and numbers continue to grow at a relatively higher rate.
Changing population
Since the early 90s Herefordshire’s population growth has been driven entirely by migration, since there have been fewer births than deaths over this period.
Growing population
Herefordshire has seen an overall growth of nine per cent, over the last 16 years (from 2001 to 2017), this is lower than the 12 per cent seen in England and Wales as a whole.
Population around the county
Herefordshire is one of the least densely populated areas of the country, with residents scattered across its 842 square miles. Two-fifths of our residents live in the most rural areas of the county. Hereford city has relatively high proportions of young adults (aged 20-34), whilst the market towns have the highest proportions of people aged 80 and over.