Area type
Metropolitan County
Population Density
2,232
Population growth
0.4%
Gender ratio
0.99 male to female
english main language
92%
birth rate
11.9
death rate
9.7
Major religion
62% Christian
Urbanisation
99%
View trend
View trend
View breakdown
The population of Greater Manchester is 2,848,286 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. Greater Manchester's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was 0.4% per year. Greater Manchester covers an area of 1,276 square kilometres (493 square miles) and has a population density of 2,232 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020.
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in Greater Manchester is predominantly white (84%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 16% of the population.
The median average age in Greater Manchester in 2019 was 384.6, with over 18s representing 79.5% of the population. The sex ratio was 98.9 males to every 100 females. Compare average age by area.
In 2011, the urban population of Greater Manchester was approximately 2,655,019 or 99%, while the rural population was around 27,509 or 1%.
The largest religious group in Greater Manchester is Christians who account for 62% of the population.
English is spoken as the main language by 92.1% of people in Greater Manchester, and spoken either well or very well by 6% of the remaining population. 1.6% reported having poor English language skills, and the remaining 0.3% spoke no English at all.
Main page: Greater Manchester Population
The population of Greater Manchester is 2,848,286 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. In the year between mid-2019 and mid-2020, the population in Greater Manchester grew by an estimated 12,600 people, and in the ten years before mid-2020, the population grew by 162,900.
Greater Manchester's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was 0.4%, which is 0.2% lower than the average population growth rate in Greater Manchester for the ten years before mid-2020 (0.7%).
Greater Manchester covers an area of 1,276 square kilometres (493 square miles) and has a population density of 2,232 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020. That figure has increased by 128 people per km2 over the past decade.
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According to mid-year population estimates published by the ONS in 2019, males account for 49.7% of Greater Manchester's 2,848,286 population, while females made up 50.3% of the total.
The sex ratio (the number of males for each female in a population) was 98.927 males to every 100 females in 2011. In England as a whole, the gender ratio was 98 males to every 100 females in 2011.
Age statistics collected by the ONS show the adult population of Greater Manchester, that is how many people there are over the age of 18, is 2,263,951.
Greater Manchester's age structure shows the working-age population to be 1,811,543 which is 63.6% of the population. People under the age of 16 represent 20.5% of the population, and over 65s represent 15.9% of the population. The percentage of the population that is of working-age has decreased over the last 10 years from 65.5% to 61.7%.
Greater Manchester's age pyramid shows how the population is distributed by age and gender.
The median average age of someone in Greater Manchester was 384.6 years in 2019. Split by gender, the average female age is 392.9 years, and the average male is 376.2 years.
Of the Greater Manchester population over the age of 90, girls outnumber boys by 1.9 to 1.
The life expectancy of someone born today in Greater Manchester is 79 years. Split by gender, a girl born today in Greater Manchester has a life expectancy of 81 years, and a boy has a life expectancy of 77 years. Compare life expectancy by area.
As a comparison, in England as a whole, current life expectancy at birth is 81 years, for females that rises to 83 years and for males it falls to 79 years.
The life expectancy for someone born in Greater Manchester has risen by 2 years over the past decade, from a life expectancy of 77 years to a life expectancy of 79 years. In England as a whole, life expectancies have risen by 3 years.
Age | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00-01 | 77.2 | 81.1 | 79.2 |
| 01-04 | 76.6 | 80.5 | 78.6 |
| 05-09 | 72.7 | 76.5 | 74.6 |
| 10-14 | 67.7 | 71.6 | 69.7 |
| 15-19 | 62.7 | 66.6 | 64.7 |
| 20-24 | 57.9 | 61.7 | 59.8 |
| 25-29 | 53.0 | 56.7 | 54.9 |
| 30-34 | 48.2 | 51.8 | 50.0 |
| 35-39 | 43.4 | 46.9 | 45.2 |
| 40-44 | 38.7 | 42.1 | 40.4 |
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in Greater Manchester is predominantly white (83.8%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 16.2% of the population.
Asian people were the largest minority group in Greater Manchester accounting for 10.2% of the population.
74,097 or 3% of the Greater Manchester population are black according to the latest 2011 census.
In England more broadly the portion of the population that is white is 85.4%. 7.8% are Asian and 3.5% are Black.
Estimates of personal wellbeing in the UK are published by the ONS annually, with scores for anxiety, happiness, life satisfaction, and feeling that life is worthwhile. Overall scores are based on surveying a representative sample of the population and are scored out of 10 (.e.g for happiness 0 is 'not at all happy' and 10 is 'completely happy').
Anxiety wellness data for Greater Manchester isn't currently available, please try another area.
Greater Manchester Salary
Greater Manchester House Prices
Greater Manchester Crime
According to the latest 2011 census, the most populous religious group within Greater Manchester is Christians, accounting for 61.8% of the population.
Greater Manchester has a Muslim population of 232,787 which is 8.2% of the population.
Compared to England as a whole, in England circa 59% of the population is Christian, 5% is Muslim, 2% is Hindu, and Buddhists, Sikhs and Jews each is around 1%. The remainder is split between people with no religion and those who decided not to identify a religion.
Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2021. Data sources: ONS Local statistics