The UK

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Population Structure in the UK

The population of the UK is unevenly distributed and has grown at different rates depending on location.

Population changes

The population grew from 56 million to 63 million between 1981 and 2011 (2018 estimate is 66.6 million), but not equally in all regions.
- There has been minimal growth in the north and north-east (including Scotland), some growth in the Midlands and strong growth in the south and south-east (including London).
This pattern reflects the economic prosperity of the regions, with the de-industrialised north losing out to the service sector economy of the south.

Rural/urban

Remote rural areas have experienced population decline, as have some inner cities.
Suburban, rural–urban fringe and accessible rural areas have seen population growth.
Older (65+) people tend to live more in rural areas.
The percentage of over-65s in inner-city areas is low.
Suburban places have a high number of 0-15-year-olds.
There is less variation in where you would find 0-15-year-olds than in the over-65s.

Factors Influencing UK Population Trends

There are multiple accessibility, physical and historical factors that contribute to the trends we can see in UK population density and structure.

Rural/urban

Urban areas are usually more accessible by transport than rural areas.
Access matters more for working-age people, but less so for the over-65s so more retired people live in rural areas that are more peaceful.
Remote rural areas can be more hilly, have limited transport connections and therefore access is even more difficult with longer journey times between places.
Many upland areas have hill farming suitable only for animal grazing, so population density is low.

Historical planning

Suburban areas have high population densities due to transport developments.
After 1880 many middle-class people moved out of city centres into the suburbs and commuted to work by rail.
Planning policies also contributed to the popularity of the suburbs, accessible rural areas and some parts of the rural-urban fringe.

Greenbelt

Since 1947, many cities have been ringed by a greenbelt.
This has encouraged people to move beyond it and live in rural areas and commute further to work in the city (counter-urbanisation).
Greenbelts have also put pressure on suburban areas to house people at higher densities.

Population dynamics

Growth and decline of populations are affected by birth and death rate and migrations. There is a difference in population dynamics between rural and urban areas.

Growth and decline

The relationship between birth rate and death rate determines whether a population grows (more births than deaths) or declines (more deaths than births).
Many remote rural areas have declining populations due to these natural factors, whereas many urban areas have growing populations.
Migration (both internal and international) also has an impact.

Rural/urban

Rural areas tend to have high levels of internal out-migration and low levels of international migration (outward and inward).
Urban areas tend to have high levels of internal in-migration and high levels of international migration (outward and inward).