Area type
Unitary Authority
Population Density
3,969
Population growth
-0.9%
Gender ratio
1.02 male to female
english main language
85%
birth rate
13.1
death rate
8.0
Major religion
50% Christian
Urbanisation
100%
View trend
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The population of Reading is 160,337 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. Reading's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was -0.9% per year. Reading covers an area of 40 square kilometres (16 square miles) and has a population density of 3,969 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020.
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in Reading is predominantly white (75%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 25% of the population.
The median average age in Reading in 2019 was 34.8, with over 18s representing 78.8% of the population. The sex ratio was 102.4 males to every 100 females. Compare average age by area.
In 2011, the urban population of Reading was approximately 155,230 or 100%, while the rural population was around 468 or 0%.
The largest religious group in Reading is Christians who account for 50% of the population.
English is spoken as the main language by 85.5% of people in Reading, and spoken either well or very well by 12% of the remaining population. 1.8% reported having poor English language skills, and the remaining 0.3% spoke no English at all.
Main page: Reading Population
The population of Reading is 160,337 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. In the year between mid-2019 and mid-2020, the population in Reading grew by an estimated -1,443 people, and in the ten years before mid-2020, the population grew by 4,998.
Reading's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was -0.9%, which is 1.2% lower than the average population growth rate in Reading for the ten years before mid-2020 (0.4%).
Reading covers an area of 40 square kilometres (16 square miles) and has a population density of 3,969 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020. That figure has increased by 124 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 50.6% of Reading's 160,337 population, while females made up 49.4% of the total.
The sex ratio (the number of males for each female in a population) was 102.443 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 Reading, that is how many people there are over the age of 18, is 126,383.
Reading's age structure shows the working-age population to be 106,048 which is 66.1% of the population. People under the age of 16 represent 21.2% of the population, and over 65s represent 12.7% of the population. The percentage of the population that is of working-age has decreased over the last 10 years from 69.1% to 66.9%.
Reading's age pyramid shows how the population is distributed by age and gender.
The median average age of someone in Reading was 34.8 years in 2019. Split by gender, the average female age is 35.1 years, and the average male is 34.5 years.
Of the Reading population over the age of 90, girls outnumber boys by 1.6 to 1.
The life expectancy of someone born today in Reading is 80 years. Split by gender, a girl born today in Reading has a life expectancy of 83 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 Reading has risen by 2 years over the past decade, from a life expectancy of 78 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 | 78.3 | 82.7 | 80.5 |
| 01-04 | 77.8 | 82.0 | 79.9 |
| 05-09 | 73.8 | 78.0 | 75.9 |
| 10-14 | 68.9 | 73.0 | 71.0 |
| 15-19 | 64.0 | 68.1 | 66.1 |
| 20-24 | 59.0 | 63.1 | 61.1 |
| 25-29 | 54.1 | 58.2 | 56.2 |
| 30-34 | 49.3 | 53.2 | 51.3 |
| 35-39 | 44.4 | 48.4 | 46.4 |
| 40-44 | 39.7 | 43.5 | 41.6 |
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in Reading is predominantly white (74.7%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 25.3% of the population.
Asian people were the largest minority group in Reading accounting for 13.6% of the population.
10,470 or 7% of the Reading 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 Reading were 3.0 in 2012 and 3.0 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, Reading is the 96 th happiest area in England.
Life satisfaction scores for 2021 are 7.8 and were 7.3 in 2012. For the feeling that things done in life are worthwhile the 2021 level is 7.9 and was 7.5 in 2012.
Reading Salary
Reading House Prices
Reading Crime
According to the latest 2011 census, the most populous religious group within Reading is Christians, accounting for 50.0% of the population.
Reading has a Muslim population of 11,007 which is 6.9% 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