The demography of Greater Manchester is analysed by the
Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament.
Overview
The ONS is responsible for ...
and data is produced for each of its ten
metropolitan borough
A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropoli ...
s, each of the Greater Manchester
electoral wards, the
NUTS3 statistical sub-regions, each of the
Parliamentary constituencies in Greater Manchester, the
15 civil parishes in Greater Manchester, and for all of
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tamesid ...
as a whole; the latter of which had a population of 2,682,500 at the
2011 UK census
A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...
.
Additionally, data is produced for the
Greater Manchester Urban Area. Statistical information is produced about the size and geographical breakdown of the population, the number of people entering and leaving country and the number of people in each demographic subgroup.
Key statistics
Compared against the
demography of England
The demography of England has since 1801 been measured by the decennial national census, and is marked by centuries of population growth and urbanization. Due to the lack of authoritative contemporary sources, estimates of the population o ...
, Greater Manchester's demographics are broadly inline with national averages on many topics. In terms of ethnicity, its Asian and British Asian population is considerably above the regional and national averages, as is the portion of residents who identify as
Muslim. Compared against the
demography of the United Kingdom
The population of the United Kingdom was estimated at over 67.0 million in 2020. It is the 21st most populated country in the world and has a population density of 270 people per square kilometre (700 people per square mile), with England ...
, Greater Manchester's ethnic minority population consists of 11.09% of the total population. NB. Information in the table on the right is from the 2001 census and not the most recent 2011 census.
As of 2020, the ONS estimates the population of the Greater Manchester Metropolitan County to be 2,835,686.
Population change
The following is a table outlining population totals of the area for every ten years since 1801, using material from the
census in the United Kingdom
Coincident full censuses have taken place in the different jurisdictions of the United Kingdom every ten years since 1801, with the exceptions of 1941 (during the Second World War), Ireland in 1921/Northern Ireland in 1931,https://www.nisra.gov. ...
via the
Great Britain Historical GIS; pre-1974 statistics were gathered from local government areas that now comprise Greater Manchester. The total population of Greater Manchester is predicted to grow to around 2,950,000 by 2031, with the City of Manchester alone accounting for 36% of the growth.
Boroughs
According to the
2011 census, of Greater Manchester's ten
metropolitan borough
A metropolitan borough (or metropolitan district) is a type of local government district in England. Created in 1974 by the Local Government Act 1972, metropolitan boroughs are defined in English law as metropolitan districts within metropoli ...
s, the
City of Manchester is the most populous with a population of 503,127, whilst the
Metropolitan Borough of Bury
The Metropolitan Borough of Bury is a metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester in North West England, just north of Manchester, to the east of Bolton and west of Rochdale. The borough is centred around the town of Bury but also includes other ...
is the least populous with 185,100. The
City of Manchester's population in 2021 is predicted at 532,200.
The city experienced the greatest percentage population growth outside London, with an increase of 19% to over 500,000. Manchester's population is projected to reach 532,200 by 2021, an increase of 5.8% from 2011. This represents a slower rate of growth than the previous decade.
[
In terms of ethnic composition, the City of Manchester has the highest non-white population in Greater Manchester (34th in England), followed by the metropolitan boroughs of Oldham (45th in England), Rochdale (53rd in England), and Trafford (68th in England). Wigan is the least ethnically diverse borough in the county, and 274th in England.
The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham is the borough with the highest proportion of people under fifteen years of age.] Almost 12% of people in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham are of South Asian
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geography, geographical and culture, ethno-cultural terms. The region consists of the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, ...
heritage, the highest proportion of a borough of Greater Manchester.[
With greater affluence, a recent trend has seen some of the Pakistani community move out of the inner city into more spacious ]suburbs
A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include Commercial area, commercial and mixed-use development, mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a ...
. In South Manchester this means that they have been moving from Longsight/Levenshulme
Levenshulme () is an area of Manchester, England, bordering Fallowfield, Longsight, Gorton, Burnage, Heaton Chapel and Reddish; it is approximately halfway between Stockport and Manchester city centre on the A6 road (England), A6. Levenshulme i ...
to more suburban areas such as Cheadle, Chorlton and Heaton Mersey. The inner city areas that are being left are generally filled with newer immigrants from places like Iran, Afghanistan and Polan
http://www.cmatrust.org/page.aspx?page=about_us/defaul
File:Manchester population pyramid 2020.svg, Manchester
File:Metro borough of Wigan pop pyramid.svg, Wigan
File:Metro borough of Stockport pop pyramid.svg, Stockport
File:Metro borough of Bolton pop pyramid.svg, Bolton
File:Metro Borough of Salford pop pyramid.svg, Salford
File:Metro borough of Trafford pop pyramid.svg, Trafford
File:Metro borough of Oldham pop pyramid.svg, Oldham
File:Metro borough of Tameside pop pyramid.svg, Tameside
File:Metro borough of Rochdale pop pyramid.svg, Rochdale
File:Metro borough of Bury pop pyramid.svg, Bury
Ethnicity
The following table shows the ethnic group of respondents in the 1991, 2001 and 2011 censuses in Greater Manchester.
Notes for table above
# New category created for the 2001 census
# New category created for the 2011 census
# In 2001, listed under the 'Other ethnic group' heading.
Languages
The most common main languages spoken in Greater Manchester according to the 2011 census are shown below.
Religion
The following table shows the religion of respondents in the 2001 and 2011 censuses in Greater Manchester.
Eurostat NUTS
In the Eurostat Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics
Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics or NUTS (french: Nomenclature des unités territoriales statistiques) is a geocode standard for referencing the subdivisions of countries for statistical purposes. The standard, adopted in 20 ...
(NUTS), Greater Manchester is a level-2 NUTS region, coded "UKD3", which is subdivided into the "Greater Manchester South" (UKD31) and "Greater Manchester North" (UKD32) level-3 regions.
Urban and metropolitan area
At the 2001 census, the population of the Greater Manchester Urban Area was 2,240,230.Key Statistics for urban areas in England and Wales
, 2001 Census. URL accessed 21 February 2007. This area does not include some outliers within Greater Manchester, such as Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...
, but does extend into the adjacent counties of Lancashire
Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a Historic counties of England, historic county, Ceremonial County, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significa ...
and Cheshire
Cheshire ( ) is a ceremonial and historic county in North West England, bordered by Wales to the west, Merseyside and Greater Manchester to the north, Derbyshire to the east, and Staffordshire and Shropshire to the south. Cheshire's coun ...
. Eurostat has developed a harmonising standard for comparing metropolitan areas in the European Union and the population of the Greater Manchester Larger Urban Zone
The larger urban zone (LUZ), or functional urban area (FUA), is a measure of the population and expanse of metropolitan and surrounding areas which may or may not be exclusively urban. It consists of a city and its commuting zone outside it.
The ...
is 2,600,100; it occupies an area of . The Greater Manchester LUZ is the second most populous within the United Kingdom, behind that of London, and sixteenth most populous within the EU.
See also
*Demography of the United Kingdom
The population of the United Kingdom was estimated at over 67.0 million in 2020. It is the 21st most populated country in the world and has a population density of 270 people per square kilometre (700 people per square mile), with England ...
*Demography of England
The demography of England has since 1801 been measured by the decennial national census, and is marked by centuries of population growth and urbanization. Due to the lack of authoritative contemporary sources, estimates of the population o ...
* Demography of London
* Demography of Birmingham
* Religion in England
* List of English cities by population
*List of English districts by population
This is a list of the 314 districts of England ordered by population, according to estimated figures for from the Office for National Statistics.
The list consists of 188 non-metropolitan districts, 32 London boroughs, 36 metropolitan boroughs, ...
*List of English districts and their ethnic composition
This is a list of districts of England showing their ethnic composition as recorded in the 2021 census.
Census respondents were asked "What is your ethnic group? Choose ONE section from A to E, then tick the appropriate box to indicate your cult ...
*List of English districts by area
This is a list of districts of England ordered by area, according to Standard Area Measurements published by the Office for National Statistics
The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of ...
* List of English districts by population density
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
{{Greater Manchester
Geography of Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tamesid ...
Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tamesid ...