Area type
Metropolitan District
Population Density
2,022
Population growth
0.1%
Gender ratio
0.95 male to female
english main language
97%
birth rate
9.3
death rate
12.3
Major religion
70% Christian
Urbanisation
99%
View trend
View breakdown
The population of Sunderland is 277,846 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. Sunderland's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was 0.1% per year. Sunderland covers an area of 137 square kilometres (53 square miles) and has a population density of 2,022 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020.
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in Sunderland is predominantly white (96%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 4% of the population.
The median average age in Sunderland in 2019 was 42.2, with over 18s representing 82.3% of the population. The sex ratio was 95.1 males to every 100 females. Compare average age by area.
In 2011, the urban population of Sunderland was approximately 274,013 or 99%, while the rural population was around 1,493 or 1%.
The largest religious group in Sunderland is Christians who account for 70% of the population.
English is spoken as the main language by 97.5% of people in Sunderland, and spoken either well or very well by 2% of the remaining population. 0.4% reported having poor English language skills.
Main page: Sunderland Population
The population of Sunderland is 277,846 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. In the year between mid-2019 and mid-2020, the population in Sunderland grew by an estimated 141 people, and in the ten years before mid-2020, the population grew by 2,516.
Sunderland's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was 0.1%, which is 0.1% lower than the average population growth rate in Sunderland for the ten years before mid-2020 (0.1%).
Sunderland covers an area of 137 square kilometres (53 square miles) and has a population density of 2,022 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020. That figure has increased by 18 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 48.7% of Sunderland's 277,846 population, while females made up 51.3% of the total.
The sex ratio (the number of males for each female in a population) was 95.101 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 Sunderland, that is how many people there are over the age of 18, is 228,781.
Sunderland's age structure shows the working-age population to be 173,572 which is 62.5% of the population. People under the age of 16 represent 17.7% of the population, and over 65s represent 19.9% of the population. The percentage of the population that is of working-age has decreased over the last 10 years from 65.5% to 64.9%.
Sunderland's age pyramid shows how the population is distributed by age and gender.
The median average age of someone in Sunderland was 42.2 years in 2019. Split by gender, the average female age is 43.9 years, and the average male is 40.5 years.
Of the Sunderland population over the age of 90, girls outnumber boys by 2.5 to 1.
Age | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00-01 | 77.0 | 80.7 | 78.9 |
| 01-04 | 76.2 | 79.9 | 78.1 |
| 05-09 | 72.3 | 75.9 | 74.1 |
| 10-14 | 67.3 | 71.0 | 69.2 |
| 15-19 | 62.3 | 66.0 | 64.2 |
| 20-24 | 57.4 | 61.0 | 59.2 |
| 25-29 | 52.6 | 56.1 | 54.4 |
| 30-34 | 47.9 | 51.1 | 49.5 |
| 35-39 | 43.3 | 46.3 | 44.8 |
| 40-44 | 38.7 | 41.5 | 40.1 |
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in Sunderland is predominantly white (95.9%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 4.1% of the population.
Asian people were the largest minority group in Sunderland accounting for 2.7% of the population.
1,273 or 0% of the Sunderland 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 Sunderland were 3.2 in 2012 and 3.1 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, Sunderland is the 328 th happiest area in England.
Life satisfaction scores for 2021 are 7.5 and were 7.4 in 2012. For the feeling that things done in life are worthwhile the 2021 level is 7.7 and was 7.6 in 2012.
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According to the latest 2011 census, the most populous religious group within Sunderland is Christians, accounting for 70.3% of the population.
Sunderland has a Muslim population of 3,650 which is 1.3% 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