Title

Population density per square kilometre of land area (1991 onwards), by Welsh local authorities

Last update

June 2021 June 2021

Next update

June 2022

Publishing organisation

Welsh Government

Source 1

Mid-year population estimates, Office for National Statistics

Source 2

Standard area measurements, Office for National Statistics

Contact email

stats.popcensus@gov.wales

Designation

National Statistics

Lowest level of geographical disaggregation

Local authorities

Geographical coverage

Wales

Languages covered

English and Welsh

Data licensing

You may use and re-use this data free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government License - see http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence

General description

This dataset provides population density estimates in persons per square kilometre for the local authorities in Wales for the period from 1991 onwards. The figures are derived by diving the mid year population estimates by the latest land area estimates in square kilometres, measured at the mean high water mark, and excluding areas of inland water as recommended by the Office for National Statistics. The supporting population and area estimates are included in the dataset.

The mid-2020 population estimates are the first population estimates to show some of the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. However, these estimates refer to the population as at 30 June 2020, meaning that they only account for the first three months of the pandemic.

Future releases of the population estimates will provide information on the impact from mid-2020 onwards.

It should be noted that there are some definitional changes for mid-2020 (particularly affecting the migration components) compared to mid-2019 populations estimates data and it is advised users read the Quality and Methodology Information section on the Office for National Statistics website.

This material is Crown Copyright and may be re-used (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence.

Data collection and calculation

See weblinks

Frequency of publication

Annual

Data reference periods

Data are produced and reported annually and relate to the 30 June of each year for 1991 onwards, although the land area data is unchanged throughout the dataset and taken to be the latest available standard area measurements.

Users, uses and context

The data presented here are used to understand the different levels of population density in each of the local authorities in Wales, and how this is changing over time.

Rounding applied

Data are provided on an unrounded basis although the Office for National Statistics advises that the population estimates data found in this datasets and presented separately are rounded to the nearest 100 where practical.

Revisions information

The data presented here reflect changes made to population estimates from 2001 to 2010 in re-basing the data to be consistent with the results of the 2011 Census (see weblinks).

Mid-2012 to mid-2016 subnational population estimates for England and Wales were revised on the 22 March 2018, following methodological improvements (see weblinks).

Land area measurement is taken to be the latest available standard area measurements for all years in the dataset therefore population density for some local authorities may differ slightly when compared to previous versions of this table.

Keywords

Population; density; land area

Statistical quality

See weblinks

Weblinks

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/methodologies/midyearpopulationestimatesqmi

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/bulletins/annualmidyearpopulationestimates/latest

https://ons.maps.arcgis.com/home/search.html?t=content&q=tags%3A%22Standard%20Area%20Measurements%22

Name

POPU1009