Wales Population 2024

Wales is situated in the west of the UK, borders England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, and the Bristol Channel to the south. According to ons, Wales population in 2024 is estimated to be 3.24 million, covers area of 20,779 sq.km (8,023 sq mi). Major cities are Cardiff, Swansea & Newport, Its capital, Cardiff, is the main economic centre and financial services is one of the most important sectors. Agriculture and wind power facilities of both onshore and offshore, also play an important role. Through the Digital Development Fund, the Welsh government is positioning Wales as a base for digital businesses. The Netherlands is Wales fifth largest export destination. Wales gross value added for exports and imports in 2017 is £62,190 million (£ 19,899 per capita), has a import value of £17.556 million with 3.8% of total UK imports, Main products are machinery & transport equipment, fossil fuels, and Exports of £16.429 million approximately 5% of overall UK exports, Main export and import partners are Germany, France, United States and China, Main export products are machinery & transport equipment and chemicals. Cardiff University, Swansea University are the universities in Wales. Port Penrhyn, Holyhead Port, Port of Newport are ports in Wales.

Religions in Wales

Christianity is still the largest religion in Wales, although there are considerable number of people stating no religion since 2001. According to 2011 census, Christianity decreased by 14.3 percentage in Wales since 2001, No religion increased by 13.6 percentage points in Wales since 2001. The ethnic backgrounds of Wales population is diverse.

According to the gov, 2011 Census, Christianity was the largest religion in Wales, with around 1.8 million people which is 57.6 percent of the population. The next largest religious group was Muslim, with 46 thousand people which is 1.5 percent of the population. Almost a million people in Wales said that they have stated no religion, around 32.1 per cent of the population. Of these 12,705 people the most common other religions were Pagan of 3,448 people, Spiritualist of 2,691 people and Mixed religion of 1,659 people. In Wales, 0.4 percent of people stated other religion. Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist populations have approximately doubled since 2001, staying the next three largest religions after Christianity in Wales. Hindus and Sikhs are predominantly Asian or Asian British. The Buddhist population is Asian or Asian British. Just over half of the Muslim population were born outside the UK and the majority of Christians and those with no religion were born in Wales, The majority of Hindus were born outside the UK, compared to half of other minority religious groups minority religious groups includes Hindu, Buddhist, Sikh, Jewish and Other religion, There was also variation in the age demographic of each religious group. Christians had a much older population compared to Wales overall. In contrast, Muslims had a much younger population.

Ethnic groups in Wales

Over 9 in 10 people in Wales were White around 95.6 percent. Christian, Jewish and no religion groups showed similar ethnicity proportions to Wales as a whole. Hindu and Sikh populations predominantly identified with an Asian or Asian British background about 93.0 percent and 83.4 percent respectively. Muslims were more ethnically diverse, with just over half of the Muslims in Wales about 54.8 percent stating an Asian or Asian British background. The Buddhist population also show a more varied ethnic background compared to others such as Christian, Hindu or Sikh. The other half reporting as Black/African/Caribbean/Black British around 10.3 percent, White about 7.9 percent, Mixed/Multiple ethnic group about 4.8 percent or Other Ethnic group about 22.2 percent. Just over half of the Buddhist population were from a White background about 54.6 percent, with the other half predominantly identifying with an Asian/Asian British background about 41.2 percent. A more detailed analysis into the subgroups of these categories is shown in Charts 4 to 7 for Christians, Muslims, people from minority religious groups and those with no religion.

Population projection

According to gov, The population of Wales is projected to increase by 3.1% to 3.21 million by 2026 and by 4.6% to 3.26 million by 2041. The number of children aged under 16 is projected to increase to 568,000 by 2026 before decreasing between 2026 and 2041, with a population of 549,000 in 2041. Overall, the number of children is projected to decrease by 1.5% between 2016 and 2041. The number of people aged 16 to 64 is projected to decrease by 81,000 (4.2%) between 2016 and 2041. The number of people aged 65 and over is projected to increase by 232,000 (36.6%) between 2016 and 2041.

The Census was held on Sunday 27th March 2011. It captured information about people usually resident in England and Wales and is a major, important source of information about the population and households. It provides detailed information about the population as a whole and for small geographical areas and small populations. On census night the population in Wales was 3.06 million. This was the largest the population had ever been. The population grew by 153,000 in the 10 years since the last census, rising from 2.9 million in 2001, an increase of 5.3 per cent. This was the largest growth in the population since 1921.

While the difference between births and deaths led to a small increase in the population, migration accounted for over 90 per cent of the population increase between 2001 and 2011. This includes both international migration and migration from elsewhere within the UK. The percentage of the population in Wales aged 65 and over was the highest seen in any census at over 18 per cent, a total of 563,000 people. This was an increase of 57,000 people in this age category since 2001, and an increase of 450,000 since 1911 when there were 113,000 people aged 65 and over. There were 25,000 residents in Wales aged 90 and over in 2011, compared with 19,000 in 2001 and 700 in 1911. In 2011, there were 178,000 children under five in Wales, 11,000 more than in 2001.

In 2011, population of Wales was 3.1 million, a five per cent increase since 2001. In 2011 66 per cent, 2.0 million of the residents of Wales expressed as Welsh, Of these 218,000 also reported that they considered themselves to be British. Fifty eight per cent (1.8 million) of residents of Wales stated Christian as their religion in 2011, In 2011 168,000 of people in Wales (5%) were born outside the UK, an increase of two percentage points on 2001 (three per cent, 92,000), a 14 percentage point drop since 2001, The usually resident population of Wales was 96 per cent of about 2.9 million White in 2011, a higher percentage than any of the England regions. Almost one third (32 per cent, 983,000) of the population in Wales stated they had no religion in 2011, more than any of the England regions. In 2001 there were on average 11 cars per 10 households whereas in 2011 there were 12 cars per 10 households, so the number of cars and vehicles to households in Wales increased from 1.3 to 1.6 million between 2001 and 2011. The percentage of people able to speak Welsh decreased from 20.8 per cent in 2001 to 19.0 per cent in 2011. Nearly one in five (18 per cent, 563,000) of residents were aged 65 or over. Wales population in 2023 is estimated to be 3.21 million, population in 2022 is estimated to be 3.19 million, Population of Wales in 2021 is estimated to be 3.17 million.

Subdivisions of Wales

There were 1.3 million households in Wales on census night. The average household size was 2.3 residents per household, in 2011, the same as in England and unchanged from 2001. In 1911, households in England and Wales had an average of 4.3 residents, almost double the current total. All areas of Wales saw population growth between 2001 and 2011 except Blaenau Gwent, which saw a small decline. The unitary authorities with the largest percentage growth in population were Cardiff about 12 percent, Pembrokeshire about 8 percent, and Bridgend about 8 percent.