You asked

​​I am after the most recent population distributions for England stratified by age, gender and ethnicity.

We said

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request regarding population distributions for England stratified by age, gender, and ethnicity.

The Estimates of the population for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland dataset provides mid-year population estimates data at national, regional and local authority level by sex and single year of age. The most recent edition of this dataset provides population estimates data for mid-2019.

Our best and most up-to-date, official estimates of the population of England and Wales by ethnic group, sex and age remains those derived from the 2011 Census. These data are freely available at national and subnational level on the Nomis website.

You may also be interested in the following illustrative estimates on ethnic group.  These represent research into what the ethnic group population might look like between censuses and were produced in response to the need for more frequent updates into the size and characteristics of the population.

  • The Research report on population estimates by ethnic group and religion and the accompanying Population characteristics research tables provide illustrative population estimates at national, regional and local authority level for England and Wales by ethnic group and religion for 2016. These illustrative estimates were published as part of research into developing a methodology to produce these estimates more regularly between censuses. These data are not Official Statistics. To access these data, click on the above link, scroll down to 'Edition in this dataset' and open the xls document entitled 'December 2019 edition of this dataset'. For more information about the methodology used to produce these data, please consult the accompanying Research report.

  • The Population denominators by ethnic group, regions and countries: England and Wales, 2011 to 2018 dataset provides population estimates at national and regional level for England and Wales by 18-way ethnic group, sex and single year of age from 2011 to 2018. They were produced in response to a specific request from the Race Disparity Audit for this research, following discussion with the Race Disparity Unit of their specific requirements and time-frame.

  • For more information about the methodology used to produce this data, please consult the Supporting information document. To access these data, please click on the above link, scroll down to 'Downloads associated with request' and open the xls document(s) for the year(s) of relevance to your research.

Please note: These datasets are illustrative data sets only produced as research. They are not National Statistics. The different methodologies and data sources used to produce these datasets, and the resulting specific dataset characteristics, mean there are differences between the two datasets. In addition, neither methodology fully incorporates nor adjusts for migration in producing its figures. Our best official estimates remain those derived from the 2011 Census.  

When accessing any of our files, please read the 'notes, terms and conditions' contained within them.

Should you require anything further, please do not hesitate to contact us directly at pop.info@ons.gov.uk.