Population Information
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With a population of 530,300, the City of Sheffield is England’s third largest metropolitan authority. The city grew rapidly during the industrial revolution. In 1801 its population was 60,100. By 1851 it had increased to 161,500 and by 1901 it was 451,200. At its peak, in 1951, the population numbered 577,050.
Since the 2001 Census, the population has increased to the current estimate for mid-2007 of 530,100.
Sheffield’s population shows the clear bulge in the population in the 20-24 age group. This is caused by Sheffield’s significant student population at its two universities.
The increase in recent years is largely the result of two factors: firstly, there are now more births than deaths in Sheffield, resulting in a positive ‘natural change’ in the population; and secondly, there has been an increase in the level of international migration to Sheffield.
Ethnicity and Diversity
Sheffield is an ethnically diverse city, with around 14% of its population from black or minority ethnic groups. The largest of those groups is the Pakistani community, but Sheffield also has large Caribbean, Indian, Bangladeshi, Somali, Yemeni and Chinese communities. More recently, Sheffield has seen an increase in the number of overseas students and in economic migrants from within the enlarged European Union.
Good estimates and projections of the population total and how it breaks down by age and gender are very important to the planning and delivery of Council services.
Population Figures for Other Areas
Population statistics for Sheffield and other local authority areas are produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
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For more information about Sheffield's population, please contact Derek West, Corporate Policy Unit, Sheffield City Council at derek.west@sheffield.gov.uk or by telephone on 0114 2734250
Downloads
A report on Sheffield's changing population, including population and household estimates and projections, ethnicity and the impact of students. (1.08 MB)
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