Croydon Observatory – Population

It is essential to understand population size and characteristics in order to effectively plan and deliver services such as education, transport and healthcare. This section displays the latest population estimates and projections for Croydon.

Population estimates are produced using a variety of data sources and statistical models, including some statistical disclosure control methods, and small estimates should not be taken to refer to particular individuals. The estimated resident population of an area includes all those people who usually live there, regardless of nationality. Arriving international migrants are included in the usually resident population if they remain in the UK for at least a year. Emigrants are excluded if they remain outside the UK for at least a year. Armed forces stationed outside of the UK are excluded. Students are taken to be usually resident at their term time address.

Population estimates for all persons by broad age group for 2017

	Croydon		London		England
	Count	%	Count	%	Count	%
Persons aged 0 - 15	85,278	22.2	1,812,812	20.5	10,637,971	19.1
Persons aged 16 - 64	248,175	64.5	5,973,028	67.7	34,950,948	62.8
Persons aged 65+	51,384	13.4	1,039,161	11.8	10,030,511	18

Population estimates for all persons by 5-year age group for 2017

	Croydon		London		England
	Count	%	Count	%	Count	%
0 - 4	28,390	7.4	623,748	7.1	3,384,925	6.1
5 - 9	27,789	7.2	592,615	6.7	3,497,402	6.3
10 - 14	24,579	6.4	505,372	5.7	3,166,038	5.7
15 - 19	22,227	5.8	462,812	5.2	3,120,730	5.6
20 - 24	19,863	5.2	557,975	6.3	3,526,141	6.3
25 - 29	27,075	7	802,866	9.1	3,831,624	6.9
30 - 34	29,632	7.7	851,739	9.7	3,757,400	6.8
35 - 39	30,030	7.8	771,760	8.8	3,642,643	6.6
40 - 44	26,615	6.9	637,186	7.2	3,442,758	6.2
45 - 49	26,950	7	594,435	6.7	3,850,108	6.9
50 - 54	28,271	7.4	556,973	6.3	3,907,196	7
55 - 59	23,561	6.1	462,944	5.3	3,479,034	6.3
60 - 64	18,471	4.8	365,415	4.1	2,982,920	5.4
65 - 69	15,260	4	309,238	3.5	2,890,646	5.2
70 - 74	12,632	3.3	254,418	2.9	2,604,535	4.7
75 - 79	9,160	2.4	187,614	2.1	1,813,420	3.3
80 - 84	7,373	1.9	144,067	1.6	1,369,854	2.5
85+	6,959	1.8	143,824	1.6	1,352,056	2.4

	Croydon	London	England
UK nationals	265,000	68.1	5,628,000	62.9	46,540,000	84.4
Non-UK nationals	124,000	31.9	3,316,000	37.1	8,584,000	15.6

Population by nationality (excluding UK)

	Croydon		London		England
	Count	%	Count	%	Count	%
European Union	22,000	5.7	1,021,000	11.4	3,233,000	5.9
Non-EU European	5,000	1.3	206,000	2.3	347,000	0.6
Middle and East Central Asian	1,000	0.3	161,000	1.8	385,000	0.7
East Asian	0	0	105,000	1.2	296,000	0.5
South Asian	38,000	9.8	707,000	7.9	1,763,000	3.2
South East Asian	2,000	0.5	120,000	1.3	330,000	0.6
Sub Saharan African	33,000	8.5	522,000	5.8	1,208,000	2.2
North African	1,000	0.3	59,000	0.7	141,000	0.3
North American	2,000	0.5	96,000	1.1	259,000	0.5
Central and South American	17,000	4.4	237,000	2.6	434,000	0.8
Oceanian	2,000	0.5	83,000	0.9	189,000	0.3
Rest of the World	55,000	14.1	996,000	11.1	2,231,000	4

	Croydon	London	England
UK	324,000	83.3	6,924,000	77.4	49,587,000	89.9
Non-UK	65,000	16.7	2,019,000	22.6	5,531,000	10

Population by country of birth (excluding UK)

	Croydon		London		England
	Count	%	Count	%	Count	%
European Union	26,000	6.7	1,124,000	12.6	3,320,000	6
Non-EU European	3,000	0.8	103,000	1.2	171,000	0.3
Middle and East Central Asia	0	0	51,000	0.6	176,000	0.3
East Asia	0	0	66,000	0.7	177,000	0.3
South Asia	15,000	3.9	252,000	2.8	682,000	1.2
South East Asia	0	0	55,000	0.6	140,000	0.3
Sub Saharan Africa	10,000	2.6	145,000	1.6	386,000	0.7
North Africa	0	0	14,000	0.2	53,000	0.1
North America	2,000	0.5	72,000	0.8	162,000	0.3
Central and South America	5,000	1.3	77,000	0.9	146,000	0.3
Oceania	2,000	0.5	59,000	0.7	120,000	0.2
Rest of the World	20,000	5.1	367,000	4.1	867,000	1.6

The projections below take population estimates as their starting point. The projected local authority populations for each year are calculated by ageing on the population from the previous year, applying local fertility and mortality rates to calculate the number of projected births and deaths, and then adjusting for migration into and out of each local authority. Fertility, mortality and migration assumptions are derived using values estimated using data from the five years before the base projection year, and do not take into account any known policy or demographic changes.

Population projections for all persons by year

	Croydon	London	England
2018	390,100	8,965,600	55,997,700
2019	393,600	9,056,800	56,357,500
2020	397,000	9,142,000	56,704,700
2021	400,200	9,220,900	57,030,500
2026	414,000	9,543,400	58,505,600
2031	425,400	9,821,600	59,789,800
2036	436,300	10,089,700	60,905,500
2041	446,800	10,346,000	61,952,100

Population projections for all persons by broad age group for 2041

	Croydon	London	England
0 - 15	87,691	19.6	1,875,007	18.1	10,838,105	17.5
16 - 64	269,916	60.4	6,670,925	64.5	36,120,420	58.3
65 +	89,226	20	1,800,078	17.4	14,993,591	24.2

Projections for all persons by 5-year age group for 2041

	Croydon		London		England
	Count	%	Count	%	Count	%
0 - 4	28,100	6.3	620,300	6	3,379,500	5.5
5 - 9	27,000	6	576,300	5.6	3,351,400	5.4
10 - 14	27,100	6.1	564,600	5.5	3,410,900	5.5
15 - 19	26,600	6	565,200	5.5	3,531,100	5.7
20 - 24	22,000	4.9	630,300	6.1	3,705,700	6
25 - 29	27,600	6.2	843,900	8.2	3,944,800	6.4
30 - 34	29,300	6.6	843,500	8.2	3,904,900	6.3
35 - 39	27,000	6	705,700	6.8	3,485,700	5.6
40 - 44	27,400	6.1	660,600	6.4	3,530,600	5.7
45 - 49	29,000	6.5	661,900	6.4	3,755,100	6.1
50 - 54	30,600	6.8	669,600	6.5	3,841,800	6.2
55 - 59	29,500	6.6	638,000	6.2	3,685,400	5.9
60 - 64	26,600	6	566,000	5.5	3,431,800	5.5
65 - 69	22,300	5	472,700	4.6	3,306,300	5.3
70 - 74	20,500	4.6	422,600	4.1	3,434,300	5.5
75 - 79	18,900	4.2	360,300	3.5	3,137,100	5.1
80 - 84	13,300	3	259,800	2.5	2,356,300	3.8
85 - 89	8,300	1.9	161,900	1.6	1,540,400	2.5
90 +	6,000	1.3	122,800	1.2	1,219,200	2

Broad ethnicity groups

	Croydon		London		England
	Count	%	Count	%	Count	%
Asian/Asian British	59,627	16.4	1,511,546	18.5	4,143,403	7.8
Black/African/Caribbean/Black British	73,256	20.2	1,088,640	13.3	1,846,614	3.5
Minority Ethnic - Total	191,638	52.7	4,504,657	55.1	10,733,220	20.2
Mixed/multiple ethnic groups	23,895	6.6	405,279	5	1,192,879	2.3
Other ethnic group	6,405	1.8	281,041	3.4	548,418	1
White	200,195	55.1	4,887,435	59.8	45,281,142	85.4

Detailed ethnicity groups

	Croydon		London		England
	Count	%	Count	%	Count	%
Asian/Asian British: Bangladeshi	2,570	0.7	222,127	2.7	436,514	0.8
Asian/Asian British: Chinese	3,925	1.1	124,250	1.5	379,503	0.7
Asian/Asian British: Indian	24,660	6.8	542,857	6.6	1,395,702	2.6
Asian/Asian British: Other Asian	17,607	4.8	398,515	4.9	819,402	1.5
Asian/Asian British: Pakistani	10,865	3	223,797	2.7	1,112,282	2.1
Black/African/Caribbean/Black British: African	28,981	8	573,931	7	977,741	1.8
Black/African/Caribbean/Black British: Caribbean	31,320	8.6	344,597	4.2	591,016	1.1
Black/African/Caribbean/Black British: Other Black	12,955	3.6	170,112	2.1	277,857	0.5
Mixed/multiple ethnic groups: White and Asian	5,140	1.4	101,500	1.2	332,708	0.6
Mixed/multiple ethnic groups: White and Black African	3,279	0.9	65,479	0.8	161,550	0.3
Mixed/multiple ethnic groups: White and Black Caribbean	9,650	2.7	119,425	1.5	415,616	0.8
Mixed/multiple ethnic groups: Other Mixed	5,826	1.6	118,875	1.5	283,005	0.5
Other ethnic group: Arab	1,701	0.5	106,020	1.3	220,985	0.4
Other ethnic group: Any other ethnic group	4,704	1.3	175,021	2.1	327,433	0.6
White: English/Welsh/Scottish/Northern Irish/British	171,740	47.3	3,669,284	44.9	42,279,236	79.8
White: Gypsy or Irish Traveller	234	0.1	8,196	0.1	54,895	0.1
White: Irish	5,369	1.5	175,974	2.2	517,001	1
White: Other White	22,852	6.3	1,033,981	12.6	2,430,010	4.6

Household composition breakdown

	Croydon		London		England
	Count	%	Count	%	Count	%
One family only: All aged 65 and over	7,394	5.1	134,063	4.1	1,789,465	8.1
One family only: Cohabiting couple	11,628	8	282,907	8.7	2,172,438	9.8
One family only: Cohabiting couple: All children non-dependent	724	0.5	12,288	0.4	108,486	0.5
One family only: Cohabiting couple: Dependent children	5,034	3.5	91,774	2.8	890,780	4
One family only: Cohabiting couple: No children	5,870	4	178,845	5.5	1,173,172	5.3
One family only: Lone parent	23,160	16	413,464	12.7	2,339,824	10.6
One family only: Lone parent: All children non-dependent	6,339	4.4	134,478	4.1	766,569	3.5
One family only: Lone parent: Dependent children	16,821	11.6	278,986	8.5	1,573,255	7.1
One family only: Married or same-sex civil partnership couple	43,480	30	916,407	28.1	7,329,455	33.2
One family only: Married or same-sex civil partnership couple: All children non-dependent	8,292	5.7	155,658	4.8	1,234,355	5.6
One family only: Married or same-sex civil partnership couple: Dependent children	22,469	15.5	490,040	15	3,375,890	15.3
One family only: Married or same-sex civil partnership couple: No children	12,719	8.8	270,709	8.3	2,719,210	12.3
One person household: Aged 65 and over	14,107	9.7	312,022	9.6	2,725,596	12.4
One person household: Other	28,936	20	718,536	22	3,940,897	17.9
Other household types: All aged 65 and over	387	0.3	8,660	0.3	61,715	0.3
Other household types: All full-time students	319	0.2	24,384	0.7	124,285	0.6
Other household types: Other	8,870	6.1	306,687	9.4	995,677	4.5
Other household types: With dependent children	6,729	4.6	149,043	4.6	584,016	2.6

Main language breakdown

	Croydon		London		England
	Count	%	Count	%	Count	%
English (English or Welsh if in Wales)	296,232	85.5	6,083,420	77.9	46,936,780	92
Welsh/Cymraeg (in England only)	20	0	1,310	0	8,248	0
Other UK language	31	0	1,166	0	4,637	0
French	2,408	0.7	84,191	1.1	145,026	0.3
Portuguese	2,024	0.6	71,525	0.9	131,002	0.3
Spanish	1,378	0.4	71,192	0.9	118,554	0.2
Other European language (EU)	10,754	3.1	423,054	5.4	1,155,972	2.3
Other European language (EU): Any other European language (EU)	16	0	1,506	0	2,878	0
Other European language (non EU)	689	0.2	38,419	0.5	64,985	0.1
Other European language (non-national)	7	0	3,818	0	4,600	0
Russian	503	0.1	26,603	0.3	66,271	0.1
Turkish	1,482	0.4	71,242	0.9	98,083	0.2
Arabic	1,002	0.3	70,602	0.9	152,490	0.3
West/Central Asian language	2,534	0.7	82,246	1.1	181,424	0.4
South Asian language	18,881	5.4	507,675	6.5	1,281,168	2.5
East Asian language	3,223	0.9	128,149	1.6	374,013	0.7
Oceanic/Australian language	3	0	204	0	1,729	0
North/South American language	22	0	438	0	1,022	0
Caribbean Creole	18	0	234	0	506	0
African language	4,523	1.3	132,216	1.7	240,572	0.5
Other languages	457	0.1	8,250	0.1	17,675	0
Sign language	260	0.1	3,988	0.1	20,853	0

Marital and civil partnership status breakdown

	Croydon		London		England
	Count	%	Count	%	Count	%
Divorced or formerly in a same-sex civil partnership which is now legally dissolved	23,202	8.2	484,106	7.4	3,857,137	9
In a registered same-sex civil partnership	796	0.3	27,425	0.4	100,288	0.2
Married	122,013	42.9	2,608,345	39.8	20,029,369	46.6
Separated (but still legally married or still legally in a same-sex civil partnership)	9,822	3.5	211,500	3.2	1,141,196	2.7
Single (never married or never registered a same-sex civil partnership)	112,821	39.7	2,888,944	44.1	14,889,928	34.6
Widowed or surviving partner from a same-sex civil partnership	15,614	5.5	328,853	5	2,971,702	6.9

Religion breakdown

	Croydon		London		England
	Count	%	Count	%	Count	%
Buddhist	2,381	0.7	82,026	1	238,626	0.5
Christian	205,022	56.4	3,957,984	48.4	31,479,876	59.4
Hindu	21,739	6	411,291	5	806,199	1.5
Jewish	709	0.2	148,602	1.8	261,282	0.5
Muslim	29,513	8.1	1,012,823	12.4	2,660,116	5
Sikh	1,450	0.4	126,134	1.5	420,196	0.8
Other religion	2,153	0.6	47,970	0.6	227,825	0.4
No religion	72,654	20	1,694,372	20.7	13,114,232	24.7

Reports

Croydon - Population - UTLA

Croydon - Population - UTLA - Croydon

Croydon - Population - Ward 2018

Croydon - Population - Ward

Croydon - Population - LSOA