2021 Census

What is the census?

A census is a count of all people and households in the country that takes place every ten years.  It asks people about subjects such as work, health, ethnic background, education and marital status.  The responses build a picture of today’s society which helps central and local government, health authorities, businesses, voluntary sector organisations and communities target resources and plan for years to come.

The 2021 Census took place on 21 March 2021.  In England and Wales the 2021 Census was organised and carried out by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).  More detail on all aspects of the census can be found on the 2021 Census web pages.

 

Census 2021 logo

First Results

The first results from Census 2021 were published on 28 June 2022 and give communities across Dudley a glimpse of how our local population has changed in the past decade.  All households across Dudley were asked to take part in Census 2021, which provides the most accurate estimate of all the people and households in England and Wales.  There was a 97 per cent borough response rate to the census.

The first results provide estimates of our population, as well as age and sex profiles.  Census 2021 shows the estimated population of Dudley on Census Day, 21 March 2021, was 323,500 (rounded to the nearest hundred), a 3.4% increase from the Census 2011 figure of 312,900. For more information visit the ONS web site First Results from Census 2021 page.

Interactive Census Content

From the ONS website you can view the report on how the population changed in Dudley in the ten years to Census 2021 and how this compares to other areas, or use the ONS interactive tool to see Dudley's age-sex estimates and compare to other local authorities.

Also available is a wider view of how life has changed in Dudley based on Census 2021 results that highlight some of the most notable changes among the local population, or play the interactive Census 2021 quiz to see how well you know your local area.

Topic Summaries

The ONS will release further results from the census from November 2022 onwards, starting with Topic Summaries and facts and figures about areas. Topic Summaries include sets of data, or datasets, most of which include data from a single variable. A variable is a particular characteristic of a person or household, for example, religion or accommodation type.

The summaries are shown below in the order ONS plan to release them. Confirmed release dates are given where available and will be added for other topic summaries when provided by ONS. Please see the Census 2021 topic summaries web page for more details.

To view headline data and links to maps and data downloads for the released topics click on the '+' for your topic summary of interest to open.  The headlines for the most recently released Topic Summary will be open to view below and can be minimised by clicking on the '-'.

Topic Summaries (published / confirmed dates)

Health, disability and unpaid care (published 19 January 2023)

Health, disability and unpaid care Topic Summary: Headlines

- As at Census day, 21 March 2021, based on people's assessment of their general state of health from very good to very bad 43.8% of Dudley residents said they were in very good health and a further 35.4% that they were in good health; the equivalent figures in Census 2011 were 42.4% and 35.8% respectively

- 4.7% of Dudley residents said they were in bad health and 1.3% that they were in very bad health; in Census 2011 the figures were 5.1% (bad health) and 1.4% (very bad health)

- Census 2021 asked people if they had physical or mental health conditions or illnesses lasting or expected to last 12 months or more and if these limited their day-to-day activities; 8.4% of Dudley residents answered that they had a condition and that this limited their day-to-day activities a lot, with a further 10.9% having a condition that limited their activities a little; these two categories combined, 19.3%, meet the definition for measuring disability in line with the Equality Act (2010)

- 6.9% of residents said they had a long term physical or mental health condition but their day-to-day activities are not limited (this category is not defined as disabled under the Equality Act (2010)), and 73.7% had no long term physical or mental health conditions

- 10.3% of  Dudley residents aged 5 and over provide unpaid care by looking after, or giving help or support to, people who have long-term physical or mental health conditions or illnesses, or problems related to old age; this does not include any activities as part of paid employment

- The 10.3% providing unpaid care is made up of 4.9% who do so for 19 hours or less per week, 2.2% provide 20 to 49 hours unpaid care a week, and 3.2% 50 hours a week or more

Use the Census maps interactive tool to explore Census 2021 data from the housing topic summary, or download the datasets from the ONS.

Further results

For information about other Census 2021 data due to be released after the topic summaries please visit Census 2021 results.