More boys than girls are born each year but there are more women than men overall in the UK population: 30.3 million females compared with 28.9 million males in mid-2002.
There are around 20,000 more boys than girls at each age from birth through to the late teens. By age 22 the number of young women overtakes the number of young men. This is partly because of higher net in-migration among women than men in recent years. Also, death rates from accidents and suicide are much higher for young men than for young women.
This difference between the sexes increases through the 20s and 30s age groups, but is smaller again for those in their 40s. The gap narrows mainly due to higher net inward migration among men in the older working ages.
For people in their late 50s and onwards, the difference between the sexes increases, as the death rates are greater among men than among women. This is most pronounced in the very elderly, as women tend to live longer than men. The Second World War has also had an impact on the number of men aged over 80. In 2002 there were three and half times as many women as men aged 90 or over.
The pattern of women outnumbering men is projected to continue in the future, although the gap is expected to narrow as death rates among men continue to improve. The ratio of men to women varies across the ethnic groups. There are more women than men in the White, Black and Indian groups in England and Wales. By contrast, there are more men than women in the Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Chinese, and Other groups.
Sources:Census, April 2001, Office for National Statistics; Census, April 2001, General Register Office for Scotland; Census, April 2001, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency; Mid-2002 Population Estimates: United Kingdom; estimated resident population by single year of age and sex - provisional results from the Manchester matching exercise, Office for National Statistics; Population Projections, Government Actuary's Department
printer-friendly
Latest: Focus on Gender