Population of Wales grows by 2.2%
The population of Wales has grown by 2.2% (67,882 people) amid a total increase of 4.3 million across the UK since mid-2011, new figures show.
According to figures published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today, the UK population stood at an estimated 67.6 million people in mid-2022 – with the population of Wales estimated to be around 3,132,000 people.
England saw the biggest percentage increase across the period, with its population jumping by 7.5% – the equivalent of 4.0 million.
Northern Ireland saw the next highest increase at 5.3%, or an additional 96,225 people, followed by Scotland (2.8% or 147,800 people) and Wales (2.2% or 67,882 people).
Snapshot
The figures are the first UK-wide estimates for mid-2022, making them the most up-to-date snapshot of the country’s population.
They show the median average age of people in the UK in the year to June 2022 was 40.7 years, up from 39.6 years in the year to June 2011.
All four nations now have a median age in the 40s, with Scotland recording the oldest, at 43.0 years, followed by Wales (42.9), England (40.5) and Northern Ireland (40.0).
Population estimates for Scotland for the years before 2022 have yet to be revised to account for the latest Census, which took place here in March 2022, a year later than in the rest of the UK.
This means there are currently no comparable UK-wide estimates for the period 2012 to 2021 – and is why the new figures are compared with 2011, when the Census took place in all four nations on the same day.
Wales figures
A full set of updated population estimates for the UK will be published after Scotland has revised its data for 2012-21, the ONS said.
On 30 June 2022, there were estimated to be around 3,132,000 people living in Wales, an increase of 0.8% since mid-2021 (around 26,000 more people).
The population increase between mid-2021 and mid-2022 has mainly been driven by an increase in net international migration.
People aged 65 years or older were estimated to account for just over a fifth (21.5%, or 674,000 people) of the total population in Wales in mid-2022.
Changes
The population is estimated to have increased in all but one of the local authorities in Wales between mid-2021 and mid-2022, with the largest increases in Cardiff (3.4% increase), Swansea (1.4% increase) and Ceredigion (1.3% increase).
Conwy is the only local authority whose population is estimated to have decreased between mid-2021 and mid-2022 (a decrease of 0.4%).
The figures for England and Wales were first published in November 2023 and showed the combined population of the two nations grew by an estimated 1% in the 12 months to June 2022, the fastest rate for 60 years.
The increase was driven mostly by international migration, rather than natural change – unlike the baby boom which fuelled the growth in the early 1960s.
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
How many have moved in from over Clawdd Offa?
The vast majority of the 67,882 people mentioned have moved from over Clawdd Offa. We know this from the 2021 census data. The LDPs are based on this movement and are actually designed to encourage it.
Lerpwl prif ddinas Cymru even held the National there. Welsh people moved to England in huge numbers but there we are.
Why do you say Clawdd Offa in place of England?
Not as many as moved to the other side of Clawdd Offa after all there are hospitals airports and jobs there. OH and more people of Welsh heritage than Wales.
I’d venture over 25% of the entire population come from over clawdd Offa. Why this is news now boggles the mind, we’ve known this for over 30 years.
There are more of Welsh heritage the other side of Clawdd Offa than Wales. Is there a village in Wales without a house named Manchester House where their family prospered.