Census 2001: UK Population is 58,789,194

Census 2001: UK Population is 58,789,194

The population of the United Kingdom on Census Day 2001 was 58,789,194. The population has grown by 17 per cent overall since 1951.

Reports for the censuses in the different parts of the UK were placed on 30 September by the Registrar General for England and Wales before Parliament in Westminster and the Assembly in Wales, by the Registrar General for Scotland before the Scottish Parliament and by the Registrar General for Northern Ireland before the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Populations of individual countries were:

England 49,138,831 (83.6 per cent of the total population);
Scotland 5,062,011 (8.6 per cent);
Wales 2,903,085 (4.9 per cent);
Northern Ireland 1,685,267 (2.9 per cent).
UK population has grown by 17 per cent overall since 1951 but compared with many other developed countries over the same period, the UK population is growing more slowly. It is smaller than the average growth for EU Europe (23 per cent) and considerably smaller than some countries - for example USA 80 per cent; and Australia 133 per cent.

Other important UK findings include:

there are fewer men than women at all ages over 21;
for the first time, people 60 and over (21 per cent) form a larger part of the population than children under-16 (20 per cent);
there has been a big increase in the number of people aged 85 and over - now over 1.1 million (1.9 per cent of the population).

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