Census 2021 results: Hull and East Riding populations grown in 10 years
The latest figures have been released
The populations of Hull and the East Riding have grown over the last decade but there are less children aged four and under, according to the latest census figures.
Figures from the 2021 Census released yesterday (Tuesday, June 28) showed Hull’s population grew by 4.2 per cent, from 256,406 to 267,100.
The total number of usual residents of the East Riding rose from 334,179 to 342,200, up by 2.4 per cent since the previous census was taken in 2011.
It comes as the overall population of England and Wales grew by 6.3 per cent during the same period to around 59.6m.
The rate of increase was down slightly on the 7.8 per cent rise from 2001 to 2011.
Yorkshire and the Humber’s population grew by more than 3.7 per cent from around 5.28m in 2011 to about 5.48m ten years later.
London’s Tower Hamlets was the local authority area where population grew the fastest, at a rate of 22.1 per cent.
The capital’s Kensington and Chelsea borough saw the steepest decline in population with a fall of 9.6 per cent.
Women outnumbered men slightly in England and Wales, by around 30.42m to roughly 29.18m respectively.
The same was true for Yorkshire and the Humber where women numbered about 2.79m compared to around 2.69m men.
The population trends in Hull and the East Riding
Women were more numerous than men in both Hull and the East Riding though the gap between the sexes was narrower in the former than in the latter.
There was a total of 174,400 women in the East Riding compared to a male population of 167,800.
In Hull, women outnumbered men by 500, totalling 133,800 compared to 133,300 men.
Hull’s largest age group was 30 to 34 year olds with 20,800, 7.8 per cent of the total, whereas it was 20 to 24 year olds in 2011, numbering 24,040.
The 30 to 34 age cohort was followed by 25 to 29 year olds with 20,200 and 20 to 24 year olds, 19,400.
In the East Riding, 55 to 59 year olds were the largest age group with a total of 27,100, about 7.9 per cent of the overall population.
The biggest age group in the East Riding in 2011 by contrast was 45 to 49 year olds who numbered 26,056.
The second and third biggest age groups in the East Riding in 2021 were 50 to 54 year olds with a total of 25,600 and 70 to 74 year olds, with 25,400.
The smallest age cohort in Hull was 75 to 79 year olds in both 2021 and 2011, with 7,100 and 7,322 people respectively.
Those aged 80 and over were the second smallest with 10,100 while 70 to 74 year olds were third with 11,400.
In the East Riding the smallest cohort was 20 to 24 year olds who numbered 14,400, compared to 2011 when 75 to 79 year olds came bottom with 13,951.
The second smallest group in 2021 was the under fours, numbering 14,700 followed jointly by 15 to 19 year olds and 25 to 29 year olds, both with 16,800.
The oldest cohorts shrank slightly in Hull but grew in the East Riding from 2011 to 2021.
In Hull, those aged 80 and over fell from 10,108 in 2011 to 10,100 a decade later.
By contrast, the 80 and over cohort grew in the East Riding to 24,100 in 2021 from 18,788 in 2011.
But at the opposite end of the age range both areas saw declines.
The amount of children aged four and under in Hull fell from 17,358 to 16,000 and from 16,400 to 14,700 in the East Riding.
All age brackets up to 19 also saw falls in their populations in the East Riding with the exception of five to nine year olds who grew in number.
The five to nine and 10 to 14 age cohorts grew in Hull over the decade but the amount of 15 to 19 year olds fell.
The amount of 20 to 24 year olds fell in both Hull and the East Riding but those aged 25 to 29 grew in the latter while dropping slightly in the former.
But the trend was reversed in both areas for 30 to 34 year olds which increased in number.
The amount of 35 to 39 year olds meanwhile dropped in the East Riding but rose in Hull.
What do the trends mean?
The figures from the 2021 census we have so far are only raw numbers for age groups as those for work, education and other areas remain unreleased.
But the data we do have shows there are some demographic shifts taking place which will have ramifications for both areas in years to come.
The greater proportion of younger people in Hull and older people in the East Riding fits with the character of each place, urban and rural respectively.
The East Riding in particular is a popular retirement destination, with coastal areas attracting people from West Yorkshire and further afield, perhaps in part explaining the swell in older cohorts.
The fact the largest age groups in both areas are 10 years older than a decade ago shows that most of those people remained settled.
Falling numbers of 20 to 24 year olds in both areas could mean people of that age are moving away to find work, education and training opportunities elsewhere.
But results for 30 to 39-year-olds could show the areas are becoming popular with people looking to start families, some of which may be returning after a stint away.
If people are returning for the long term that would help to support a population which is generally ageing.
Trends in developed countries of larger elderly populations and falling birth rates present the double issue of less tax payers and more people claiming pensions and relying on health services.
This would become particularly acute is the falling number of under fours becomes a persistent trend.
Both areas would have to start attracting people from elsewhere with the prospect of decent jobs and a good quality of life, absent an upswing in the birth rate.