Census 2001 - the South West and its people
Fast growing and most older people

The South West consists of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, Somerset and Wiltshire. Also nine Unitary Authorities: South Gloucestershire, Bath and north east Somerset, City of Bristol, Poole, Bournemouth, North Somerset, and Swindon

 Population      Marital status and living arrangements    
 Country of Birth, Ethnicity and Religion      Health      Work and travel    
 Housing and Households      Qualifications      Background Notes

The South West region of England is one of the fastest growing regions in the country in terms of population and has the largest proportion of older people and smallest proportion of children.

Some of the main points from the census show:

• The population increased just over 5 per cent - 240,000 people - between 1991 and 2001.
• The population of the South West grew at a faster rate than all regions apart from the East of England.
• It has the lowest proportion among the English regions of children and the highest proportion of pensioners but there has been little change in these proportions since 1991.
• It has the highest percentage of households in England that are all pensioners.
• Just under three quarters of the people in the South West state their religion as Christian, above the average for England.
• It has the highest proportion of White people (97.7 per cent).
• Over one in six (18 per cent) of people in the South West have a limiting long-term illness in 2001 compared to 14 per cent in 1991.
• Although fewer than 0.1 per cent of workers are employed in the fishing industry in the South West, this is four times the proportion for England as a whole.
• It has the lowest rate of people using public transport for journeys to work.
• Just over a quarter of the population aged 16 to 74 have no qualifications - below the average for England (28.9 per cent).
• Nearly 73 per cent of households own or have access to either one or two cars.

Population

The South West region has about a tenth of the total population of England and Wales. Over the past 20 years it has proportionately been the fastest growing region and in the past 10 years it is second only to the East of England region for population growth.

It has a population of 4,928,000 people which is an increase of 5.1 per cent or 240,000 people from mid-1991 to April 2001. There was a faster increase in the number of men than women but men still only make up 48.4 per cent of the population.

It has the greatest proportion of people aged 65 and over in the country (18.7 per cent) and conversely the lowest proportion of children (19.0 per cent) but this picture has not changed overall from 1991.

Marital status and living arrangements

The South West region has an above average proportion of married and re-married people and a lower proportion of single people. It is the region with the highest number of re-married people (9.1 per cent) and this combined with married people (44.3 per cent) is considerably more sizeable than the England and Wales proportion of 50.9 per cent.

With 26.8 per cent it has fewer single (never-married) people (30.2 per cent for England) and East Dorset (18.1 per cent) and Christchurch (20.0 per cent) have the smallest proportions across England and Wales. Bristol with 40.2 per cent has the greatest proportion in the South West (in parts of London more than half are single).

Taking divorced people alone it is the highest region with 8.8 per cent but it has the smallest proportion (2.2 per cent) for separated people. The North West has a greater proportion of divorced and separated people combined and Blackpool (15.2 per cent) has the most. In the South West, Torbay (13.4 per cent), Penwith (13.4 per cent) and Weymouth and Portland (13.0 per cent) were all in the top ten highest for separated or divorced people.

The South West has 8.0 per cent lone-parent households - below the average of 9.5 per cent - although Bristol (10.4 per cent) and Plymouth (10.2 per cent) were markedly above average. One-person households make up 29.6 per cent in the South West with Bournemouth and Cheltenham having the greatest proportion while the region has the highest proportion of all pensioner households - 11.1 per cent.

Country of Birth, Ethnicity and Religion

Outside of Wales, the South West has the highest proportion of people born in Wales (2.4 per cent) and one of the smallest proportions of people born outside the European Union (3.2 per cent). Nine out of ten people were born in England.

The South West is also the region with the highest proportion of people in the White ethnic group (97.7 per cent) nearly all of whom describe themselves as White British.

Indian, Black Caribbean and Chinese are the largest minority ethnic groups with just 0.3 per cent each. Total minority ethic groups in the South West is just 2.3 per cent.

Nearly three-quarters of the population in the South West say their religion is Christian, a little above the national average. The next biggest stated religion is Muslim with 0.5 per cent, substantially smaller than the 3.1 per cent for England as a whole and the smallest for any English region.

People who say they have no religion (16.8 per cent) are the biggest group after Christian, larger than for England as a whole - more than one in five people in Bristol and Exeter say they had no religion.

Health

Nearly 70 per cent of people in the South West describe themselves as being in 'good health' with just 8.5 per cent saying they are in 'not good health' (the remainder are in 'fairly good health'). This is similar to the general picture for England. This question was not asked in 1991 so there is no comparison.

The proportion who say they have a limiting long-term illness, however, is increasing when compared with 1991 - 18 per cent compared with 14 per cent in 1991. It is just slightly higher than the England average.

At the same time, the proportion of people aged 16 to 74 who are economically inactive and permanently sick or disabled has increased from 3.0 per cent in 1991 to 4.5 per cent in 2001.

For the first time a question was asked about people who provide unpaid care and this shows that one in ten people (10.1 per cent) in the South West provide such care - this is slightly above the average for England as a whole (9.9 per cent).

Work and travel

Over 67 per cent of people in the South West aged between 16 and 74 are economically active, slightly above the English average. In comparison with 1991, the proportion who are working has risen, and the proportion who are unemployed has fallen substantially.

One in ten people in work is self-employed - higher than the England average of 8.3 per cent. Of people who are economically inactive, 15.5 per cent are retired - higher than the England average of 13.5 per cent.

Two districts in the South West come out highest for the percentage of people in England in 'skilled trades' (electricians, plumbers etc). Torridge in North Devon has 22 per cent and the Isles of Scilly 21 per cent.

The fishing industry now employs only 0.1 per cent of workers in the South West but this is still nearly four times the proportion for England as a whole.

The South West has the lowest rate of public transport use for journeys to work among the English regions - 6.1 per cent compared with 14.9 per cent for England as a whole.

However, although more than two-thirds travel to work by car, the South West also has the highest proportion of people who travel to work on foot and also the most who work from home.

One in nine people (11 per cent) work from home compared with the one in 12 (9.2 per cent) for the whole of England. Walking to work is favoured by 12.2 per cent compared with 10.0 per cent across England as a whole.

One in five people in the South West do not have access to a car but this is fewer than the 26.8 per cent average for England. Just 7 per cent have access to three or more cars while the rest have access to one or two cars.

Housing and Households

The average household size in the South West is 2.31 compared with 2.36 for the whole of England. It also has more rooms per household (5.52) than the England average (5.33) and only 5.0 per cent of households are considered overcrowded compared with 7.1 per cent for England as a whole.

Over seven in ten (72.5 per cent) of households in the South West are owner-occupied and within that there is a far greater proportion (34.1 per cent) which are owned outright compared with England (29.2 per cent). Only 7.7 per cent of households rent from the council in the South West compared with 13.2 per cent for England.

Qualifications

The picture for qualifications of the people of the South West is similar to that of England as a whole. People with no qualifications account for 26.2 per cent and people with a degree or higher make up about one in five.

Background Notes

1. Dependent children are those under 16, or are aged 16-18, studying full-time and living in a family with one or both parents.

2. A person living as part of a cohabiting couple could in fact be married to someone else, but would not appear as married or separated in this classification.

3. All-pensioner households are those which consist entirely of men aged 65 and over, and women aged 60 and over.

4. Census day was 29 April 2001. Census data give a snapshot picture of the country at this time. Population counts by age and sex for England and Wales, Wales, regions of England and English and Welsh local authorities were published on 30 September 2002.

5. The Office for National Statistics is responsible for the census in England and Wales. The Census in Scotland and in Northern Ireland is carried out by the General Register Office for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency respectively. Census data for Scotland and Northern Ireland are released separately.

6. Detailed Census results published today are mainly for England and Wales and its regions and local authorities. Individual press releases are available for Wales and each of the nine English Government Office Regions: North West, North East, Yorkshire and the Humber, West Midlands, East Midlands, South West, South East, London and the East. Press releases covering six key Census topic areas are also issued today: Ethnicity and religion, Families, Health, Households, People and places, Work. Census data published today are available free on the National Statistics website: www.statistics.gov.uk/census/

7. Further releases of Census data will take place through Spring and Summer 2003. In March there will be cross-tabulated data, followed by data down to small area/ward level. In the summer will begin a series of multi-source topic reports which draw upon other sources in addition to census to provide detailed pictures of specific topics and areas.

8. Details of the policy governing the release of new data are available from the press office.

9. National Statistics are produced to high professional standards set out in the National Statistics Code of Practice. They undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference. Ó Crown copyright 2003.