Wales's Population, 2009

The report brings together information on the demography of Wales for the period 1971 to 2007. It looks at population and migration estimates, birth and death patterns, and also focuses on the 2006-based national population projections, and the recently published 2006-based local authority projections.

The key points from the latest release are:

• Wales's population increased in 2007 to around 2.98 million.
• Natural change in Wales was positive (more births than deaths) in mid-2006 and mid-2007 for the second successive year, after being negative (more deaths than births) for the whole of the period mid-1998 to mid-2005.
• In Wales, 9 per cent of all live births were to mothers born outside the UK in 2007, an increase on the proportion in 1998 when only 5 percent of births were to mothers born outside the UK.
• The number of deaths occurring in Wales in 2007 was 32,148 which was a small increase on 2006 (31,083).  The number of deaths in 2006 was the lowest annual total recorded during the whole of the period 1971-2007.
• In 2007, 15.5 thousand people migrated into Wales from overseas, while 7 thousand people migrated from Wales to overseas destinations.
• The population is projected to increase by 11 per cent from 2006 to 3.3 million in 2031 (projected to cross the 3 million mark between mid-2008 and mid-2009).
• The proportions of births, deaths and marriages registered bilingually all increased during the period from 1975 to 2007, with bilingual birth registrations increasing the most (from 1.5 per cent of all births in 1975 to 9.4 per cent of all births in 2007).

Revision note

The 2002-2008 mid year estimates were revised in May 2010 as part of ONS’ programme on improving population and migration estimates (IMPS).

This output is based on the unrevised population and migration data and therefore should be treated with caution.

More information on IMPS can be accessed through the related links section.

Contact

Tel: 029 2082 1595
E-mail: stats.popcensus@wales.gsi.gov.uk