Population by single year of age

Key points

Estimates from Census 2021 show that:

• The largest single year age group in the Lancashire-12 area was aged 56 years (18,329 people)
• In each of the 49 to 59 single year age groups there were more than 17,000 people.
• The largest single year age group in Ribble Valley and South Ribble was also 56 years
• In Pendle there was a low modal age of 10 while in Wyre the modal age was as high as 74
• In Lancaster and West Lancashire the modal age of 19 was influenced by the universities in those districts
• Numbers were lowest in single year age groups for those aged over 75 (under 11,500 in the Lancashire-12 area)
• In eight of the Lancashire-14 areas the modal age from the 2011 Census had increased by ten years to the modal age in 2021

Introduction 

The following article uses statistics for local authorities from the Phase 1 - Census 2021 topic summaries. The dataset was published in November 2022. This report presents selected information for the Lancashire-14 and Lancashire-12 areas, and individual local authority areas within these boundaries. 

Demographic details of a local population are very important and are used by public and private sector organisations to allocate resources and plan services.  The figures are also used as denominators in the calculation of rates, indicators and ratios, such as unemployment rates.

The main population base for outputs from Census 2021 is the usual resident population as at Census day 21 March 2021. A usual resident of the UK is anyone who, on census day, was in the UK and had stayed or intended to stay in the UK for a period of 12 months or more, or had a permanent UK address and was outside the UK and intended to be outside the UK for less than 12 months. Although the population base for enumeration included non-UK short-term residents, this population is analysed separately and is not included in the main outputs from the Census. All outputs, unless specified, are produced using only usual residents of the UK.

The Lancashire perspective

The usual resident population of the Lancashire-12 area was 1,235,354. The largest single year age group was aged 56 years (18,329 people). This number is called the 'mode'. They are part of the 1960s baby boom generation who were aged between 49 and 60 years at the Census. In each of these other single year age groups (except 60) there were over 17 thousand people. 56 year-olds also dominate in Ribble Valley and South Ribble districts.

There was also a high count of 19 year-olds (over 16,000 people). This group dominates in Lancaster and West Lancashire where there are major universities. Conversely the number of people in the 18 to 21 year old year groups falls in areas which have no universities. Even in Lancaster and West Lancashire there are more 56 year-olds than any other age groups apart from those populated by students. After this there is less of a pattern to the ages with 15,818 33 year-olds, 15,702 48 year-olds and 15,549 30 year-olds

Numbers were lowest in single year age groups for those aged over 75 (under 11,500 in the Lancashire-12 area). In nearly all cases the number decreases as the age rises.  Ages with the next fewest persons were in the 0 to 3 range, ordered the opposite way to the elderly group. These have under 13,000 each in the Lancashire-12 area.

The usual resident population of the Lancashire-14 area was 1,531,127 at the time of Census 2021. The largest single year age group was aged 56 years (22,511 people). In each of the 49 to 59 single year age groups there were more than 21,000 people. 

There was also a high count of 19 year-olds (over 19,000 people in Lancashire-14).    

Numbers were lowest in single year age groups for those aged over 75 (under 15,000 in the Lancashire-14 area). In nearly all cases the number decreases as the age rises.  Ages with the next fewest persons were in the 0 to 3 range and the 68 to 71 range, but mixed up randomly.

In Pendle the top four age bands are under 13 and in Wyre the top 18 age bands are over 50. The modal year in Wyre is 74, which would be from near the beginning of the post-war baby boom. There is a large difference between counts of 74 year-olds and 75 year-olds (4,450 at the Lancashire-14 level). This may be more to do with the baby boom effect than mortality. There are slightly more 76 year-olds than 75 year-olds in many areas.

In the first slide of the Microsoft Power BI report all of the counts for each year of age up to 99 and a count for age 100 and over are shown for the 12 districts in Lancashire and the two unitary authorities  that make up the Lancashire-14 area along with the Lancashire-12 and -14 areas themselves. This is an interactive table and if you click or tap on the district names (column headers) the table will re-sort according to that columns values. Click or tap again and it will re-sort in reverse order. Use the 'Age' (numerical) field rather than the 'Age Label' (character) to sort in age order. The second slide shows how the modal age for each area has changed from the 2011 Census to the latest one. It is interesting that for eight of these, as well as the county figures, the modal age has increased by 10 years. This might imply a smaller effect caused by migration. In three areas, Ribble Valley, South Ribble and Blackpool, the mode has increased from 46 to 56 as happened at the county level. In Pendle the change was from under one year old to 10 and in Wyre it was from 64 to 74. Chorley is one exception to the ten year rise effect and more significantly affected by inward migration.

Interactive report for the Lancashire-14 area

Source: ONS, The Phase 1 - Census 2021 topic summaries, single year of age figures for lower tier and upper tier local authorities.

Page updated November 2022