Area type
Metropolitan District
Population Density
2,065
Population growth
0.1%
Gender ratio
0.94 male to female
english main language
98%
birth rate
9.4
death rate
13.2
Major religion
70% Christian
Urbanisation
99%
View trend
View trend
View breakdown
The population of Wirral is 324,336 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. Wirral's population growth rate between mid-2019 and mid-2020 was 0.1% per year. Wirral covers an area of 157 square kilometres (61 square miles) and has a population density of 2,065 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020.
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in Wirral is predominantly white (97%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 3% of the population.
The median average age in Wirral in 2019 was 44.4, with over 18s representing 81.5% of the population. The sex ratio was 93.9 males to every 100 females. Compare average age by area.
In 2011, the urban population of Wirral was approximately 316,245 or 99%, while the rural population was around 3,538 or 1%.
The largest religious group in Wirral is Christians who account for 70% of the population.
English is spoken as the main language by 98.4% of people in Wirral, and spoken either well or very well by 1% of the remaining population. 0.3% reported having poor English language skills.
Main page: Wirral Population
The population of Wirral is 324,336 according to mid-2020 population figures published by the ONS. In the year between mid-2019 and mid-2020, the population in Wirral grew by an estimated 325 people, and in the ten years before mid-2020, the population grew by 4,499.
Wirral'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 Wirral for the ten years before mid-2020 (0.2%).
Wirral covers an area of 157 square kilometres (61 square miles) and has a population density of 2,065 people per square kilometre (km2), based on the latest population estimates taken in mid-2020. That figure has increased by 29 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 48.4% of Wirral's 324,336 population, while females made up 51.6% of the total.
The sex ratio (the number of males for each female in a population) was 93.935 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 Wirral, that is how many people there are over the age of 18, is 264,193.
Wirral's age structure shows the working-age population to be 192,904 which is 59.5% of the population. People under the age of 16 represent 18.5% of the population, and over 65s represent 22.0% of the population. The percentage of the population that is of working-age has decreased over the last 10 years from 62.3% to 61.4%.
Wirral's age pyramid shows how the population is distributed by age and gender.
The median average age of someone in Wirral was 44.4 years in 2019. Split by gender, the average female age is 45.8 years, and the average male is 42.9 years.
Of the Wirral population over the age of 90, girls outnumber boys by 2.1 to 1.
The life expectancy of someone born today in Wirral is 80 years. Split by gender, a girl born today in Wirral 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 Wirral 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 | 77.8 | 81.8 | 79.8 |
| 01-04 | 77.4 | 81.1 | 79.3 |
| 05-09 | 73.4 | 77.2 | 75.3 |
| 10-14 | 68.5 | 72.2 | 70.4 |
| 15-19 | 63.5 | 67.2 | 65.4 |
| 20-24 | 58.6 | 62.3 | 60.5 |
| 25-29 | 53.7 | 57.3 | 55.5 |
| 30-34 | 48.9 | 52.4 | 50.7 |
| 35-39 | 44.1 | 47.5 | 45.8 |
| 40-44 | 39.5 | 42.7 | 41.1 |
According to the latest 2011 census, the population in Wirral is predominantly white (97.0%), with non-white minorities representing the remaining 3.0% of the population.
Asian people were the largest minority group in Wirral accounting for 1.6% of the population.
695 or 0% of the Wirral 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 Wirral were 3.0 in 2012 and 2.7 in 2021. In the rest of England levels of Anxiety are currently 3.1.
Reported levels of Happiness in 2021 were 7.4, and 7.0 in 2012. In England, the average happiness indicator is currently 7.5. Of the 363 areas in England, Wirral is the 243 rd happiest area in England.
Life satisfaction scores for 2021 are 7.5 and were 7.2 in 2012. For the feeling that things done in life are worthwhile the 2021 level is 7.8 and was 7.7 in 2012.
Wirral Salary
Wirral House Prices
Wirral Crime
According to the latest 2011 census, the most populous religious group within Wirral is Christians, accounting for 70.4% of the population.
Wirral has a Muslim population of 1,809 which is 0.6% 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