Area type
Metropolitan District
Population Density
1,601
Population growth
0.7%
Gender ratio
0.99 male to female
english main language
92%
birth rate
10.0
death rate
9.6
Major religion
53% Christian
Urbanisation
98%
View trend
View breakdown
The population of Sheffield is 589,214 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. Sheffield's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was 0.7% per year. Sheffield covers an area of 368 square kilometres (142 square miles) and has a population density of 1,601 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020.
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in Sheffield is predominantly white (84%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 16% of the population.
The median average age in Sheffield in 2019 was 35.4, with over 18s representing 82.0% of the population. The sex ratio was 99.2 males to every 100 females. Compare average age by area.
In 2011, the urban population of Sheffield was approximately 543,008 or 98%, while the rural population was around 9,690 or 2%.
The largest religious group in Sheffield is Christians who account for 53% of the population.
English is spoken as the main language by 92.2% of people in Sheffield, and spoken either well or very well by 6% of the remaining population. 1.5% reported having poor English language skills, and the remaining 0.3% spoke no English at all.
Main page: Sheffield Population
The population of Sheffield is 589,214 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. In the year between mid-2019 and mid-2020, the population in Sheffield grew by an estimated 4,361 people, and in the ten years before mid-2020, the population grew by 37,458.
Sheffield's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was 0.7%, which is 0.0% higher than the average population growth rate in Sheffield for the ten years before mid-2020 (0.7%).
Sheffield covers an area of 368 square kilometres (142 square miles) and has a population density of 1,601 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020. That figure has increased by 102 people per km2 over the past decade.
According to mid-year population estimates published by the ONS in 2019, males account for 49.8% of Sheffield's 589,214 population, while females made up 50.2% of the total.
The sex ratio (the number of males for each female in a population) was 99.176 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 Sheffield, that is how many people there are over the age of 18, is 483,098.
Sheffield's age structure shows the working-age population to be 388,384 which is 65.9% of the population. People under the age of 16 represent 18.0% of the population, and over 65s represent 16.1% of the population. The percentage of the population that is of working-age has decreased over the last 10 years from 66.1% to 61.9%.
Sheffield's age pyramid shows how the population is distributed by age and gender.
The median average age of someone in Sheffield was 35.4 years in 2019. Split by gender, the average female age is 36.6 years, and the average male is 34.2 years.
Of the Sheffield population over the age of 90, girls outnumber boys by 1.8 to 1.
Age | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00-01 | 78.6 | 82.3 | 80.4 |
| 01-04 | 78.0 | 81.7 | 79.9 |
| 05-09 | 74.1 | 77.8 | 75.9 |
| 10-14 | 69.1 | 72.8 | 70.9 |
| 15-19 | 64.1 | 67.8 | 65.9 |
| 20-24 | 59.2 | 62.9 | 61.1 |
| 25-29 | 54.3 | 57.9 | 56.1 |
| 30-34 | 49.4 | 53.0 | 51.2 |
| 35-39 | 44.5 | 48.1 | 46.3 |
| 40-44 | 39.8 | 43.3 | 41.6 |
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in Sheffield is predominantly white (83.7%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 16.3% of the population.
Asian people were the largest minority group in Sheffield accounting for 8.0% of the population.
20,082 or 4% of the Sheffield 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 Sheffield were 3.2 in 2012 and 3.3 in 2021. In the rest of England levels of Anxiety are currently 3.1.
Reported levels of Happiness in 2021 were 7.4, and 7.2 in 2012. In England, the average happiness indicator is currently 7.5. Of the 363 areas in England, Sheffield is the 244 th happiest area in England.
Life satisfaction scores for 2021 are 7.6 and were 7.3 in 2012. For the feeling that things done in life are worthwhile the 2021 level is 7.9 and was 7.7 in 2012.
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According to the latest 2011 census, the most populous religious group within Sheffield is Christians, accounting for 52.5% of the population.
Sheffield has a Muslim population of 42,801 which is 7.3% 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