Workplace populations and change (2001-2011)

Preston, with 87,088 had by far the highest workplace total and was the location for more than an eighth (13.4%) of the 652,000 people who worked in the broader Lancashire-14-area at the time of the last Census in 2011.  Blackburn with Darwen (9.9%) and Blackpool (9.7%) each had just under a tenth of the workplace population, whilst Lancaster (9.0%) accounted for roughly one eleventh.

The city deal area of Preston and South Ribble accounted for over a fifth of the workplace population within the Lancashire-14, with a total of 136,157 people (20.9%).

At the other end of the scale, Rossendale with a workplace population of 24,266 (3.7%), Ribble Valley with 29,815 (4.6%) and Hyndburn with 31,172 (4.8%) had the lowest totals, each accounting for less than one in twenty of the workplace population total within Lancashire-14. 

Change between 2001 and 2011

Within England and Wales, the 16-74 workplace population total increased by 2,885,155 (12.3%), or almost an eighth, between the 2001 Census and the 2011 Census. 

Locally, Preston (8,544) recorded the greatest numeric increase, followed by South Ribble (7,373), Lancaster (5,888), West Lancashire (5,723), Ribble Valley (5,719), Blackburn with Darwen (5,568) and Chorley (5,095).

In terms of percentage increases, growth in workplace populations were above the 12.3% average for England and Wales in Ribble Valley (23.7%), South Ribble (17.7%), Chorley (13.9%) and West Lancashire (13.1%).    

Workplace populations grew by lower percentages in Fylde district (5.8%, 2,370), Rossendale (5.9%, 1,355), Pendle (6.1%, 1,993) and Blackpool (6.5%, 3,866) over the period.  

The workplace population totals actually fell slightly in two East Lancashire districts, in Burnley (777, 2.0%) and in Hyndburn (295, 0.9%), between the two Censuses.

The workforce population for the Lancashire-14 area increased by 55,733 (9.3%), whilst the total for Lancashire-12 grew by 46,299 (9.7%).  These sub-regional growth rates were lower than the average for England and Wales of 12.3%.

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Page updated June 2015