Around 10 million people ordinarily resident in England and Wales were born outside the UK on census day, 21 March 2021, up from 7.5 million at the time of the last census in 2011. The lowest immigrant populations were in Wales and the North East, where one in 14 usual residents were born outside the UK. The UK’s non-native population has increased by 33% in 10 years, from 7.5 million. More than half of the total population growth in England and Wales over the past 10 years has been due to positive net migration – the difference between those who immigrated to England and Wales and who have emigrated from it. India remained the most common country of birth outside the UK – accounting for 1.5% of all ordinary residents – but the biggest increase in people born outside the UK was among those from Romania, with six times as many people living here in 2021 from there. it was in 2011. This makes Romania the fourth most common country of birth outside the UK. Italy also entered the top 10 countries of birth outside the UK, doubling the number of inhabitants in 10 years from 135,000 to 277,000. Those born in the European Union were 3.6 million, a third of the total population not born in the UK. This is up from 2.5 million in the 2011 census and up from 1.4 million EU-born residents recorded in the 2001 census. Of the 10 million residents born outside the UK, four in 10 arrived in the last decade, with a third of those arriving before 2001. The census also provides information on the composition of the 25 million households in England and Wales, including marital status. For the first time, official census figures detail the number of same-sex couples getting married in the two countries. Brighton and Hove is the same-sex capital of England and Wales, with a higher proportion of people living in same-sex marriages or cohabitations than any other local authority. In the city 3,867 people – equivalent to 1.4% – were in a same-sex marriage or civil partnership at the time of the census. This is higher than the 1% who were in a same-sex partnership in the 2011 census. Brighton and Hove was followed by Lambeth and Islington (1% of people) and Southwark (0.9%). When same-sex cohabiting couples were included, Brighton and Hove was still top, with same-sex couples making up 3% of people. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Same-sex marriage was recognized in 2014 and since then it has been replaced by cohabitation contracts as the main way of legal recognition of a same-sex union. In 2021, 133,618 people across the UK (0.1%) were in a same-sex partnership, less than half of the 268,522 (0.2%) in same-sex marriage. Overall, the number of people forming legal partnerships has fallen since the last census. In 2011, 47% of people were married or in a recognized civil partnership. which had fallen to 45% in 2021. Wednesday’s release also provides data on the oldest and youngest populations across England and Wales. The east of England experienced the biggest population increase with almost half a million more people living in the region than 10 years ago. With a median age of 35, London remains the youngest region in England, with the South West recording the highest median age at 44. However, some local authorities were significantly older, with North Norfolk recording an average age of 54, Rother 53 and East Lindsey 52. Tower Hamlets in London was the youngest with an average age of 30, followed by Nottingham and Manchester and the university cities of Cambridge and Oxford, all at 31 years.
