Population
Statistics on population and households - official population estimates, recent trends, small area data, density, population characteristics, household estimates, population and household projections.
The latest official estimate of the population of the City and County of Swansea stands at 246,600 (mid-2020 estimates, Office for National Statistics / ONS). Swansea has the second highest population of the 22 Welsh local authorities, representing almost 8% of the total population of Wales (3,169,600).
Further information on the 2020 population statistics for Swansea, including breakdowns by age and sex, data for other local authorities, Wales and UK, and the most recent trends (2019-1920), is available in a
briefing note [1MB]
on this page. The mid-2020 population by single year of age is also
available [75KB]
, to enable further calculations and analysis. These will be the last annual local authority population estimates published by ONS before the 2021 Census results emerge during 2022.
Between 2019 and 2020, Swansea's estimated population decreased by approx. 400 (-0.16%). This compares with an average increase in Wales of +0.53%. Swansea was the only one of Wales' 22 local authority areas to record a fall in its estimated population over the year. In terms of the components of population change, the data suggests that Swansea's population decrease during the year to June 2020 was due to negative natural change (600 more deaths than births in the year) and internal (UK-based) out-migration (-1,500 net approx), offset by net international in-migration (+1,800 approx).
More detailed information on population and demography is included in the following pages:
- Population trends
- Small area population estimates: 2019 and earlier
- Population density, including small areas in Swansea
- Population characteristics: ethnicity, country of birth and nationality; students in Swansea
- Household estimates (2019)
- Population and household projections (Welsh Government)
A broad range of statistics on population and household characteristics are also available via our 2011 Census pages. The results of the 2021 Census and associated mid year population estimates are due to be published from spring 2022.
If you have further enquiries regarding population statistics in Swansea, please contact us.