Full Factsheet: Census 2011 overview
[Source: "2011 Census, Key Statistics for Local Authorities in England and Wales", ONS (published 11 December 2012)]
Population overview:
In March 2011, the population of England and Wales was 56.1 million, a seven per cent (3.7 million) increase since 2001.
Ethnicity:
In 2011, 86 per cent of the population (48.2 million) described their ethnicity as White.
The majority of the population are in the White British ethnic group (45.1 million or 80 per cent of the total population).
For a full explanation of ethnicity and the Census 2011, you can watch the ONS's video.
As for ethnicity in London, 45 per cent (3.7 million) of London residents stated they were White British.
Religion:
14.1 million said they had no religious affiliation (7.7 million in 2001), accounting for one quarter of the population.
33.2 million (59 per cent of the population) stated their religion as Christian in 2011. This is a decrease of 13 percentage points since 2001 when 72 per cent (37.3 million) of the population stated their religion as Christian. It is the only group to have experienced a decrease in numbers between 2001 and 2011 despite population growth.
2.7 million stated they were Muslim (five per cent of the population).
All other religions made up four per cent of the population:
- 817,000 people identified themselves as Hindu
- 423,000 people identified themselves as Sikh
- 263,000 people identified themselves as Jewish
- 248,000 people identified themselves as Buddhist
For an explanation of religion and the Census 2011, you can watch another ONS video.
Migration:
87 per cent (48.6 million) of the population of England and Wales was UK born. Of the 13 per cent who were born outside of the UK, just over half (3.8 million) arrived in the last 10 years. The increase relates to higher levels of migration seen over the last decade due to the accession of 10 countries into the EU in 2004.
See table 3 on page 15 for the "Most reported countries of birth of non-UK born usual residents".
For an explanation on migration in England and Wales, watch the ONS's video.