Area type
London Borough
Population Density
8,686
Population growth
-0.2%
Gender ratio
0.98 male to female
english main language
84%
birth rate
14.1
death rate
6.0
Major religion
53% Christian
View trend
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The population of Lewisham is 305,309 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. Lewisham's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was -0.2% per year. Lewisham covers an area of 35 square kilometres (14 square miles) and has a population density of 8,686 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020.
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in Lewisham is predominantly white (53%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 47% of the population.
The median average age in Lewisham in 2019 was 35.3, with over 18s representing 79.6% of the population. The sex ratio was 97.7 males to every 100 females. Compare average age by area.
The largest religious group in Lewisham is Christians who account for 53% of the population.
English is spoken as the main language by 83.5% of people in Lewisham, and spoken either well or very well by 14% of the remaining population. 2.5% reported having poor English language skills, and the remaining 0.4% spoke no English at all.
Main page: Lewisham Population
The population of Lewisham is 305,309 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. In the year between mid-2019 and mid-2020, the population in Lewisham grew by an estimated -533 people, and in the ten years before mid-2020, the population grew by 28,371.
Lewisham's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was -0.2%, which is 1.3% lower than the average population growth rate in Lewisham for the ten years before mid-2020 (1.1%).
Lewisham covers an area of 35 square kilometres (14 square miles) and has a population density of 8,686 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020. That figure has increased by 807 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 49.4% of Lewisham's 305,309 population, while females made up 50.6% of the total.
The sex ratio (the number of males for each female in a population) was 97.673 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 Lewisham, that is how many people there are over the age of 18, is 243,005.
Lewisham's age structure shows the working-age population to be 213,651 which is 70.0% of the population. People under the age of 16 represent 20.4% of the population, and over 65s represent 9.6% of the population. The percentage of the population that is of working-age has decreased over the last 10 years from 69.8% to 63.4%.
Lewisham's age pyramid shows how the population is distributed by age and gender.
The median average age of someone in Lewisham was 35.3 years in 2019. Split by gender, the average female age is 35.6 years, and the average male is 34.9 years.
Of the Lewisham population over the age of 90, girls outnumber boys by 2.2 to 1.
The life expectancy of someone born today in Lewisham is 80 years. Split by gender, a girl born today in Lewisham has a life expectancy of 82 years, and a boy has a life expectancy of 78 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 Lewisham has risen by 3 years over the past decade, from a life expectancy of 77 years to a life expectancy of 80 years. In England as a whole, life expectancies have risen by 3 years.
Age | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00-01 | 78.1 | 82.4 | 80.3 |
| 01-04 | 77.6 | 81.7 | 79.7 |
| 05-09 | 73.7 | 77.8 | 75.8 |
| 10-14 | 68.7 | 72.8 | 70.8 |
| 15-19 | 63.7 | 67.8 | 65.8 |
| 20-24 | 58.8 | 62.9 | 60.8 |
| 25-29 | 53.9 | 58.0 | 56.0 |
| 30-34 | 49.0 | 53.0 | 51.0 |
| 35-39 | 44.2 | 48.1 | 46.2 |
| 40-44 | 39.4 | 43.2 | 41.3 |
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in Lewisham is predominantly white (53.5%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 46.5% of the population.
Black people were the largest minority group in Lewisham accounting for 27.2% of the population.
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 Lewisham were 3.6 in 2012 and 3.7 in 2021. In the rest of England levels of Anxiety are currently 3.1.
Reported levels of Happiness in 2021 were 7.3, and 7.1 in 2012. In England, the average happiness indicator is currently 7.5. Of the 363 areas in England, Lewisham is the 280 th happiest area in England.
Life satisfaction scores for 2021 are 7.5 and were 7.1 in 2012. For the feeling that things done in life are worthwhile the 2021 level is 7.7 and was 7.4 in 2012.
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According to the latest 2011 census, the most populous religious group within Lewisham is Christians, accounting for 52.8% of the population.
Lewisham has a Muslim population of 17,759 which is 5.8% 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