Somerset - Demography

Demography

Somerset Compared
UK Census 2001 Somerset C.C. North Somerset UA BANES UA South West England England
Total population 498,093 188,564 169,040 4,928,434 49,138,831
Foreign born 7.6% 9.5% 11.2% 9.4% 9.2%
White 98.8% 97.1% 97.3% 97.7% 91%
Asian 0.3% 1.7% 0.5% 0.7% 4.6%
Black 0.2% 0.9% 0.5% 0.4% 2.3%
Christian 76.7% 75.0% 71.0% 74.0% 72%
Muslim 0.2% 0.2% 0.4% 0.5% 3.1%
Hindu 0.1% 0.1% 0.2% 0.2% 1.1%
No religion 14.9% 16.6% 19.5% 16.8% 15%
Over 75 years old 9.6% 9.9% 8.9% 9.3% 7.5%
Unemployed 2.5% 2.1% 2.0% 2.6% 3.3%

In the 2001 census the population of the Somerset County Council area was 498,093 with 169,040 in Bath and North East Somerset, and 188,564 in North Somerset giving a total for the historic county of 855,697.

Population growth is higher than the national average, with a 6.4% increase, in the Somerset County Council area, since 1991, and a 17% increase since 1981. The population density is 1.4 persons per hectare, which can be compared to 2.07 persons per hectare for the South West region. Within the county, population density ranges 0.5 in West Somerset to 2.2 persons per hectare in Taunton Deane. The percentage of the population who are economically active is higher than the regional and national average, and the unemployment rate is lower than the regional and national average.

Somerset has a high indigenous British population, with 98.8% registering as white British and 92.4% of these as born in the United Kingdom. Chinese is the largest ethnic group, while the black minority ethnic proportion of the total population is 2.9%. Over 25% of Somerset's population is concentrated in Taunton, Bridgwater and Yeovil. The rest of the county is rural and sparsely populated. Over 9 million tourist nights are spent in Somerset each year, which significantly increases the population at peak times.

Population since 1801
Year 1801 1851 1901 1911 1921 1931 1941 1951 1961 1971 1981 1991 2001
Somerset CC area 187,266 276,684 277,563 280,215 282,411 284,740 305,244 327,505 355,292 385,698 417,450 468,395 498,093
BANES 57,188 96,992 107,637 113,732 113,351 112,972 123,185 134,346 144,950 156,421 154,083 164,737 169,045
North Somerset 16,670 33,774 60,066 68,410 75,276 82,833 91,967 102,119 119,509 139,924 160,353 179,865 188,556
Total 261,124 407,450 445,266 462,357 471,038 479,758 520,396 563,970 619,751 682,043 731,886 812,997 855,694

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