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Demography and migration : Overview

On 2 November 2022, as part of our topic summaries releases for Census 2021, we published data about demography and migration in England and Wales.

In this video we explain what the Census 2021 demography and migration topic summary includes. We also highlight some of the most important and interesting data from it.

Transcript of the Census 2021 topic summaries demography and migration video

Watch a British Sign Language version of the Census 2021 topic summaries demography and migration video (opens in a new tab) 

What's included in the Census 2021 demography results

The Census 2021 demography results included data about the characteristics of households and residents in England and Wales.

This answered questions like:

  • how many households were there in England and Wales?
  • how many people lived in communal establishments, such as sheltered accommodation, hotels, guest houses or student halls of residence?
  • what was the average household size?
  • how many one-person, single family and other households were there?
  • how many people were married or in civil partnerships?

What's included in the Census 2021 international migration results

The Census 2021 international migration results included data about the characteristics of the population of England and Wales born outside the UK.

This answered questions like:

  • what was the most common country of birth outside the UK?
  • what was the most common non-UK passport?
  • how many people had an address outside the UK one year before the census?
  • how many people had been living in England and Wales for under 12 months and did not intend to stay for longer than 12 months?

You can find out more about the demography and migration Census 2021 results for England and Wales (opens in a new tab)  on the Office for National Statistics (ONS) website.

Important information:

As part of our demography and migration results, we also released updated unrounded population estimates for England and Wales. We have not rounded them to the nearest 100 and they show the number of people by sex and in age groups of one year.

You can find more information about the Census 2021 unrounded population estimates (opens in a new tab)  on the ONS website.

Important information:

We created " Census maps (opens in a new tab) " on the ONS website. This interactive map allows you to see demography and migration data in different local authority areas and neighbourhoods, as well as other Census 2021 data already released.

Important information:

Test your knowledge of your local authority area in our interactive census quiz. You can play the census quiz (opens in a new tab)  on the ONS website.