Area type
Unitary Authority
Population Density
3,343
Population growth
0.8%
Gender ratio
0.96 male to female
english main language
95%
birth rate
9.6
death rate
10.4
Major religion
55% Other
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The population of Plymouth is 266,862 according to mid-2022 population figures published by the ONS. Plymouth's population growth rate between mid-2021 and mid-2022 was 0.8% per year. Plymouth covers an area of 80 square kilometres (31 square miles) and has a population density of 3,343 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2022.
According to the latest 2021 census, the population in Plymouth is predominantly white (94%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 6% of the population.
The median average age in Plymouth in 2022 was 39.6, with people of working age (ages 16-64) representing 63.9% of the population. The sex ratio was 96.5 males to every 100 females. Compare average age by area.
The largest religious group in Plymouth is Others who account for 55% of the population.
English is spoken as the main language by 95.4% of people in Plymouth, and spoken either well or very well by 3.8% of the population. 0.6% reported having poor English language skills, and the remaining 0.2% spoke no English at all.
Main page: Plymouth Population
The population of Plymouth is 266,862 according to mid-2022 population figures published by the ONS. In the year between mid-2021 and mid-2022, the population in Plymouth grew by an estimated 2,094 people, and in the ten years before mid-2022, the population grew by 8,270.
Plymouth's population growth rate between mid-2021 and mid-2022 was 0.8%, which is 0.4% higher than the average population growth rate in Plymouth for the ten years before mid-2022 (0.4%).
Plymouth covers an area of 80 square kilometres (31 square miles) and has a population density of 3,343 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2022. That figure has increased by 104 people per km2 over the past decade.
According to mid-year population estimates published by the ONS for 2022, males account for 49.1% of Plymouth's 266,862 population, while females made up 50.9% of the total.
The sex ratio (the number of males for each female in a population) was 96.466 males to every 100 females. In England as a whole, the sex ratio was 96 males to every 100 females.
Plymouth's age structure shows the working-age population to be 170,531 which is 63.9% of the population. People 15 and under represent 17.3% of the population, and over 65s represent 18.8% of the population. The percentage of the population that is of working-age has decreased over the last 10 years from 65.6% to 63.9%.
Plymouth's age pyramid shows how the population is distributed by age and gender.
The median average age of someone in Plymouth was 39.6 years in 2022.
Of the Plymouth population over the age of 90, women outnumber men by 2.2 to 1.
ONS figures for 2019 show the life expectancy of someone born in Plymouth is 81 years. Split by gender, a girl born in Plymouth has a life expectancy of 83 years, and a boy has a life expectancy of 79 years. Compare life expectancy by area.
As a comparison, in England as a whole, current life expectancy at birth is 81 years, for females that rises to 83 years and for males it falls to 79 years.
The life expectancy for someone born in Plymouth has risen by 2 years over the past decade, from a life expectancy of 78 years to a life expectancy of 81 years. In England as a whole, life expectancies have risen by 3 years.
Age | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00-01 | 78.8 | 82.5 | 80.7 |
| 01-04 | 78.0 | 81.8 | 79.9 |
| 05-09 | 74.1 | 77.8 | 75.9 |
| 10-14 | 69.1 | 72.9 | 71.0 |
| 15-19 | 64.2 | 67.9 | 66.1 |
| 20-24 | 59.2 | 62.9 | 61.1 |
| 25-29 | 54.4 | 57.9 | 56.2 |
| 30-34 | 49.6 | 53.0 | 51.3 |
| 35-39 | 44.9 | 48.2 | 46.6 |
| 40-44 | 40.1 | 43.3 | 41.7 |
According to the latest 2021 census, the population in Plymouth is predominantly white (94.0%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 6.0% of the population.
Asian people were the largest minority group in Plymouth accounting for 2.2% of the population.
2,786 or 1% of the Plymouth population are black according to the latest 2021 census.
In England more broadly the portion of the population that is white is 81%. 10% are Asian and 4% are Black.
Estimates of personal wellbeing in the UK are published by the ONS annually, with scores for anxiety, happiness, life satisfaction, and feeling that life is worthwhile. Overall scores are based on surveying a representative sample of the population and are scored out of 10 (e.g. for happiness 0 is 'not at all happy' and 10 is 'completely happy').
Average scores for reported Anxiety in Plymouth were 3.1 in 2014 and 3.2 in 2023. In the rest of England levels of Anxiety are currently scored at 3.2.
Reported levels of Happiness in 2023 were 7.7, and 7.4 in 2014. In England, the average happiness score is currently 7.4. Plymouth is the 2nd happiest unitary authority in England (of 63 total) when ordered by average happiness.
Life satisfaction scores for 2023 are 7.5 and were 7.5 in 2014. For the feeling that things done in life are worthwhile the 2023 level is 7.7 and was 7.7 in 2014.
Plymouth Salary
Plymouth Housing Market
According to the latest 2021 census, the most populous religious group within Plymouth is Others, accounting for 55.5% of the population.
Plymouth has a Muslim population of 3,474 which is 1.3% of the population.
Compared to England as a whole, in England circa 46% of the population is Christian, 7% is Muslim, 2% is Hindu, and Buddhists, Sikhs and Jews each is around 1%. The remainder is split between people with no religion and those who decided not to identify a religion.
Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2023. Data sources: ONS Local statistics