Area type
Unitary Authority
Population Density
4,827
Population growth
Gender ratio
1.01 male to female
english main language
72%
birth rate
12.6
death rate
8.1
Major religion
32% Christian
Urbanisation
100%
View trend
View trend
View breakdown
The population of Leicester is 354,036 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. Leicester's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was per year. Leicester covers an area of 73 square kilometres (28 square miles) and has a population density of 4,827 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020.
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in Leicester is predominantly white (50%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 50% of the population.
The median average age in Leicester in 2019 was 31.6, with over 18s representing 78.6% of the population. The sex ratio was 100.7 males to every 100 females. Compare average age by area.
In 2011, the urban population of Leicester was approximately 329,283 or 100%, while the rural population was around 556 or 0%.
The largest religious group in Leicester is Christians who account for 32% of the population.
English is spoken as the main language by 72.5% of people in Leicester, and spoken either well or very well by 20% of the remaining population. 6.0% reported having poor English language skills, and the remaining 1.5% spoke no English at all.
Main page: Leicester Population
The population of Leicester is 354,036 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. In the year between mid-2019 and mid-2020, the population in Leicester grew by an estimated people, and in the ten years before mid-2020, the population grew by .
Leicester's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was , which is
Leicester covers an area of 73 square kilometres (28 square miles) and has a population density of 4,827 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020. That figure has by 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 50.2% of Leicester's 354,036 population, while females made up 49.8% of the total.
The sex ratio (the number of males for each female in a population) was 100.738 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 Leicester, that is how many people there are over the age of 18, is 278,164.
Leicester's age structure shows the working-age population to be 234,562 which is 66.3% of the population. People under the age of 16 represent 21.4% of the population, and over 65s represent 12.3% of the population. The percentage of the population that is of working-age has decreased over the last 10 years from 67.6% to 62.9%.
Leicester's age pyramid shows how the population is distributed by age and gender.
The median average age of someone in Leicester was 31.6 years in 2019. Split by gender, the average female age is 32.4 years, and the average male is 30.9 years.
Of the Leicester population over the age of 90, girls outnumber boys by 2.4 to 1.
The life expectancy of someone born today in Leicester is 79 years. Split by gender, a girl born today in Leicester has a life expectancy of 82 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 Leicester has risen by 3 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 | 76.9 | 81.7 | 79.3 |
| 01-04 | 76.6 | 81.1 | 78.9 |
| 05-09 | 72.7 | 77.2 | 75.0 |
| 10-14 | 67.7 | 72.2 | 70.0 |
| 15-19 | 62.8 | 67.3 | 65.1 |
| 20-24 | 57.8 | 62.3 | 60.1 |
| 25-29 | 52.9 | 57.4 | 55.2 |
| 30-34 | 48.1 | 52.5 | 50.3 |
| 35-39 | 43.3 | 47.6 | 45.5 |
| 40-44 | 38.6 | 42.8 | 40.7 |
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in Leicester is predominantly white (50.5%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 49.5% of the population.
Asian people were the largest minority group in Leicester accounting for 37.2% of the population.
20,585 or 6% of the Leicester 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').
Levels of reported Anxiety in Leicester were 3.3 in 2012 and 2.9 in 2021. In the rest of England levels of Anxiety are currently 3.1.
Reported levels of Happiness in 2021 were 7.6, and 7.2 in 2012. In England, the average happiness indicator is currently 7.5. Of the 363 areas in England, Leicester is the 143 rd happiest area in England.
Life satisfaction scores for 2021 are 7.7 and were 7.5 in 2012. For the feeling that things done in life are worthwhile the 2021 level is 7.9 and was 7.7 in 2012.
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According to the latest 2011 census, the most populous religious group within Leicester is Christians, accounting for 32.4% of the population.
Leicester has a Muslim population of 61,440 which is 17.4% 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