Census data reveals changing demographics

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published its latest findings from the 2021 Census for England and Wales, covering issues such as migration, country of birth, and household size and structure.

The data reveals that the number of residents born outside the UK has increased by 2.5 million in the decade since the last census.

Most notable was a 576% increase in the Romanian-born population as well as considerable uplift in the numbers of people born in Italy, Nigeria, and Bangladesh.

“The census tells us about the change over the whole decade – who was living here in March 2021, compared with March 2011,” said census deputy director Jon Wroth-Smith. “We can see Romanians have been a big driver in this change, while there have also been increases due to migration from India, Pakistan, and Poland, as well as southern European countries.”

The number of Irish-born people, however, fell to 324,670, a drop of 80,000 (or 20%) from a decade ago and well down from a peak of 683,000 in the early 1960s. Once the biggest group of those born outside the UK, the Irish are now fifth behind India, Poland, Pakistan, and Romania.

Speaking to The Guardian newspaper Peter Shirlow, director of the University of Liverpool’s Institute of Irish Studies, said this change was visible in Irish centers across England and Wales where there was an “ageing, dying demography”. He added that districts that had once featured a distinct Irish character, such as Kilburn in north London, had changed: “The Irish bars are all gone, or commodified.”

Bernard Purcell, editor and managing editor of The Irish World, a weekly London-based newspaper, however, pointed out that the children and grandchildren of Irish immigrants are thriving in areas such as business, the arts, and sport. “It’s not as homogenous, but the Irish community is alive and well. There are many Irish people in this country with English accents.”

The latest census data also revealed that the average household size in England and Wales in 2021 was 2.4 people, as it had been in 2011, with three in 10 households featuring just one person.