The demography of Greater Manchester is characterised by a number of trends recorded amongst its multicultural agglomoration of 2.55 million people, as part of census returns and other systems of measurement used in the English metropolitan county.
Greater Manchester is the third most populous, and seventh most densely populated, county in England.
Compared against the demography of the United Kingdom, Greater Manchester has significant ethnic minority population comprising 11.09% of the total population.[1]
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| Greater Manchester Compared[2][3] | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| UK Census 2001(ethnicity, 2005 estimates[4]) | Greater Manchester | North West (Region) | England |
| Total population | 2,547,700 | 6,729,764 | 49,138,831 |
| Foreign born | 7.2% | 5.0% | 9.2% |
| White | 88.9% | 92.9% | 89.1% |
| Asian | 6.5% | 4.1% | 5.3% |
| Black | 1.7% | 1.0% | 2.7% |
| Christian | 74% | 78% | 72% |
| Muslim | 5.0% | 3.0% | 3.1% |
| Hindu | 0.7% | 0.4% | 1.1% |
| No religion | 11% | 10% | 15% |
| Over 75 years old | 7.0% | 7.4% | 7.5% |
| Unemployed | 3.5% | 3.6% | 3.3% |
Compared against the demography of England, Greater Manchester's demographics are broadly inline with national averages on many topics. In terms of ethnicity, its Asian and British Asian population is considerably above the regional and national averages, as is the portion of residents who identify as Muslim.
Below is a table outlining population totals of the area for every ten years since 1801. Pre-1974 statistics were gathered from local government areas that now comprise Greater Manchester.
| Year | Population | Year | Population | Year | Population | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1801 |
|
1871 |
|
1941 |
|
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| 1811 |
|
1881 |
|
1951 |
|
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| 1821 |
|
1891 |
|
1961 |
|
||
| 1831 |
|
1901 |
|
1971 |
|
||
| 1841 |
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1911 |
|
1981 |
|
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| 1851 |
|
1921 |
|
1991 |
|
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| 1861 |
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1931 |
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2001 |
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| Source: A Vision of Britain through Time.[5] | |||||||
According to the 2001 national census, Greater Manchester's ten metropolitan boroughs, the City of Manchester is the most populous with a population of 441,200, whilst the Metropolitan Borough of Bury is the least populous with 183,500. The City of Manchester's population in 2011 is predicted at just under half-a-million at 498,000[6] and is the fastest growing of any British city.[6]
In terms of districts by ethnic diversity, the City of Manchester is ranked the highest in Greater Manchester (34th in England), followed by the metropolitan boroughs of Oldham (45th in England), Rochdale (53rd in England), and Trafford (68th in England). Wigan is the least ethnically diverse borough in the county, and 274th in England.
The Metropolitan Borough of Oldham is the borough with the highest proportion of people under fifteen years of age.[7] Almost 12% of people in the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham are of South Asian heritage, the highest proportion of a borough of Greater Manchester.[7]
With greater affluence, a recent trend has seen the some of the Pakistani community move out of the inner city into more spacious suburbs. In South Manchester this means that they have been moving from Longsight/Levenshulme to more suburban areas such as Cheadle, Chorlton and Heaton Mersey. Due to some of these suburbs having high house prices, the Pakistanis who live there tend to be of later generation with successful/professional careers. The inner city areas that are being left are generally filled with newer immigrants from places like Iran,Afghanistan and Poland.[2] [3][4][5]
| Rank | Metropolitan district | Population in 2001 |
| 1 | Manchester | 441,200 |
| 2 | Wigan | 306,700 |
| 3 | Stockport | 281,600 |
| 4 | Bolton | 265,400 |
| 5 | Oldham | 219,200 |
| 6 | Salford | 216,400 |
| 7 | Tameside | 214,100 |
| 8 | Trafford | 213,200 |
| 9 | Rochdale | 206,400 |
| 10 | Bury | 183,500 |
2005 estimates of ethnic groups in Greater Manchester.[4]
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