Key Facts

Borough Profile

  1. Croydon covers 8662 hectares with 2770 hectares of green belt land and is the largest London borough
  2. The borough has approximately 8.5 million sq. ft. of commercial floor space
  3. Croydon has a population of nearly 340,000 and a working population of 160,000
  4. There are an estimated 13,000 businesses in Croydon
  5. Black Minority Ethnic (BME) communities comprise 36% of Croydon residents
  6. Around 11,500 of Croydon's population are over 80
  7. There are currently 142,510 properties in the borough (October 2008)

Achieving better outcomes for Children

  1. 21% of the population is under 16 
  2. 45% of children come from Black Minority Ethnic (BME) groups
  3. 54,000 children of school age (5-16) 
  4. 126 state schools in the borough, including special schools
  5. £500,000 extra to improve attendance and behaviour in schools
  6. Ofstead rates 3 Croydon schools as outstanding

Safer Stronger

  1. 20% fall in crime over 3 years 
  2. Crime fell by 10% last year
  3. 13% fall in violent crime last year
  4. Anti-social behaviour and criminal damage cost £24 million per year

Economy

  1. £3.5bn invested in town centre development
  2. 74.6% employment rate
  3. 3% decline in employment in past 4 years 
  4. Local Enterprise Growth Initiative (LEGI) grant of £77m over 10 years
  5. 140,000 people employed in Croydon.
  6. LB Croydon has recently won a Beacon award for 'Promoting Economic Prosperity'

Health

  1. Men in Croydon typically live longer than the national average 
  2. Croydon has more diabetics than the the UK average
  3. Croydon has a higher proportion of lone parent with dependant children households than London and England
  4. Croydon has a lower than average number of elderly people
  5. Croydon’s population tends to have a healthier diet and a lower proportion of obese adults than the national average

Environment

  1. 120 parks and open spaces covering 1,750 hectares of land
  2. Croydon has won a recent clean air Beacon award
  3. Domestic carbon emissions of 2.5 tonnes per capita
  4. Recycling and composting is currently at 26.8% (June 2008) 
  5. Litter on streets cut by 23% in 2007

Public Sector & Value for Money

  1. Public sector employment accounts for 7.8% of jobs
  2. 7 Beacons awards in 3 years demonstrates the Croydon Strategic Partnership's innovation