Population estimates by local authority, age, sex from 1992 to 2023

FOI reference: FOI-2023-1590

You asked

Please provide population estimates by local authority, age, sex from 1992 to 2023 (or latest available year).

We said

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request regarding age group population estimates for local authorities from 1992 to 2023 (or latest available year). 

We have published the data as Population estimates for England and Wales; mid-2022 and previously as Population estimates for UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The best way to access the data you require is by downloading them from Nomis, a website run by Durham University on behalf of the Office for National Statistics.  

Mid-2022 data is not yet available on Nomis for local authorities in Northern Ireland and Scotland. These will be released in early 2024 

• Click on the following link: Nomis 
• Click Data Downloads then Query data 
• Scroll down to Population Estimates/Projections and click 
• Scroll down to Population estimates - local authority based by single year of age and click 
• Click on Geography 
• Go to local authorities: district/unitary and select All from the dropdown menu  
• On the left of the screen click on date and click on the year you require 
• Click on Age below that to select the age groups (16-64, 65+ and 85+) you require 
• Click on Sex and select males and females (total is the default) 
• Click download data 
• Then on the next screen download data for Excel 
• Your data is ready to view on an Excel spreadsheet

Once you have downloaded the spreadsheet you can rearrange the columns to the order you want and add the total columns. Then copy the data into a new worksheet in your existing spreadsheet. 

The associated download named 'FOI_2023_1590_Population_estimates_2015' has been created for 2015 using the instructions above and you can use them for each subsequent year by repeating them and changing the year. You can also use the 2015 spreadsheet as a template by inputting the data into relevant columns and it will Autosum to create the totals.

Please note that local authority boundary changes may have affected the number of local authorities and the order of their listing. 

If you need anything further, please do not hesitate to email us at pop.info@ons.gov.uk.