Area type
Region
Population Density
459
Population growth
0.5%
Gender ratio
0.98 male to female
english main language
93%
birth rate
10.9
death rate
10.5
Major religion
60% Christian
Urbanisation
85%
View trend
View breakdown
The population of The West Midlands is 5,961,929 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. The West Midlands's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was 0.5% per year. The West Midlands covers an area of 12,998 square kilometres (5,019 square miles) and has a population density of 459 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020.
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in The West Midlands is predominantly white (83%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 17% of the population.
The median average age in The West Midlands in 2019 was 39.6, with over 18s representing 80.4% of the population. The sex ratio was 98.3 males to every 100 females. Compare average age by area.
In 2011, the urban population of The West Midlands was approximately 4,755,490 or 85%, while the rural population was around 846,357 or 15%.
The largest religious group in The West Midlands is Christians who account for 60% of the population.
English is spoken as the main language by 92.8% of people in The West Midlands, and spoken either well or very well by 5% of the remaining population. 1.6% reported having poor English language skills, and the remaining 0.4% spoke no English at all.
Main page: The West Midlands Population
The population of The West Midlands is 5,961,929 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. In the year between mid-2019 and mid-2020, the population in The West Midlands grew by an estimated 27,892 people, and in the ten years before mid-2020, the population grew by 353,262.
The West Midlands's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was 0.5%, which is 0.2% lower than the average population growth rate in The West Midlands for the ten years before mid-2020 (0.7%).
The West Midlands covers an area of 12,998 square kilometres (5,019 square miles) and has a population density of 459 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.
According to mid-year population estimates published by the ONS in 2019, males account for 49.6% of The West Midlands's 5,961,929 population, while females made up 50.4% of the total.
The sex ratio (the number of males for each female in a population) was 98.281 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 The West Midlands, that is how many people there are over the age of 18, is 4,791,343.
The West Midlands's age structure shows the working-age population to be 3,678,342 which is 61.7% of the population. People under the age of 16 represent 19.6% of the population, and over 65s represent 18.7% of the population. The percentage of the population that is of working-age has decreased over the last 10 years from 63.5% to 59.7%.
The West Midlands's age pyramid shows how the population is distributed by age and gender.
The median average age of someone in The West Midlands was 39.6 years in 2019. Split by gender, the average female age is 40.7 years, and the average male is 38.5 years.
Of the The West Midlands population over the age of 90, girls outnumber boys by 2.1 to 1.
Age | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 00-01 | 78.6 | 82.6 | 80.6 |
| 01-04 | 78.1 | 82.0 | 80.1 |
| 05-09 | 74.2 | 78.1 | 76.2 |
| 10-14 | 69.2 | 73.1 | 71.2 |
| 15-19 | 64.2 | 68.1 | 66.2 |
| 20-24 | 59.3 | 63.2 | 61.3 |
| 25-29 | 54.5 | 58.3 | 56.4 |
| 30-34 | 49.6 | 53.3 | 51.5 |
| 35-39 | 44.8 | 48.4 | 46.6 |
| 40-44 | 40.1 | 43.6 | 41.9 |
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in The West Midlands is predominantly white (82.7%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 17.3% of the population.
Asian people were the largest minority group in The West Midlands accounting for 10.8% of the population.
182,125 or 3% of the The West Midlands 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 The West Midlands were 3.0 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 7.5, and 7.2 in 2012. In England, the average happiness indicator is currently 7.5. Of the 363 areas in England, The West Midlands is the 187 th happiest area in England.
Life satisfaction scores for 2021 are 7.7 and were 7.3 in 2012. For the feeling that things done in life are worthwhile the 2021 level is 7.8 and was 7.5 in 2012.
The West Midlands Salary
The West Midlands House Prices
The West Midlands Crime
According to the latest 2011 census, the most populous religious group within The West Midlands is Christians, accounting for 60.2% of the population.
The West Midlands has a Muslim population of 376,152 which is 6.3% 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