Population

·       Current (mid-2023) population of Herefordshire: 189,900 residents

·       96,700 (51%) women and 93,200 (49%) men

·       30,200 aged under 16 (16%); 109,000 aged 16 to 64 (57%) and 50,700 aged 65 and over (27%)

Herefordshire is a predominantly rural county with the fourth lowest population density in England (87 people per square kilometre). Only Westmorland and Furness (60), Northumberland (65) and North Yorkshire (78) are less densely populated.

Each year, there are consistently fewer births than deaths in Herefordshire; in the latest year (2022-23) there were 1,500 births compared to 2,500 deaths. Birth rates have been declining since 2018, reflecting national trends, while deaths have been rising since 2014 due to an ageing population. This means that without net migration into the county the total population would fall.

Since 2016, annual population changes have varied due to major events impacting migration patterns across England and Wales, such as Brexit, the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Herefordshire's population decreased by 800 between mid-2017 and mid-2020, but from mid-2020 to mid-2023, it grew at its fastest rate in 20 years, with an average annual increase of 1,300 residents, driven by net inward migration. Of the new residents, 76% moved from other parts of the UK and 34% from overseas.

Herefordshire has an older population than the national average, with around a quarter (27%) of residents aged 65 or over, compared with 19% in England and Wales and older working age adults aged 45 to 64 (28% vs 25%), but lower proportions of younger working age adults aged 16 to 44 (30% vs 38%) and children (16% vs 18%).