Manchester is a populous city in the North West of England. Its total population as of 2021 is 551,938.

This article focuses on the district, that being the City of Manchester rather than the built-up urban area.

Population Historically the population of Manchester began to increase rapidly during the Victorian era, estimated at 354,930 for Manchester and 110,833 for Salford in 1865, and peaking at 766,311 in 1931. From then the population began to decrease rapidly, due to slum clearance and the increased building of social housing overspill estates by Manchester City Council after the Second World War such as Hattersley and Langley.

The population of Manchester currently sits at 551,938 as of 2021.

Age

Country of birth

Country of birthYear19811991200120112021Number%Number%Number%Number%Number%388,62288.8%358,39988.5%334,77185.3%376,06674.7%378,73068.6%Foreign born49,04011.2%46,46211.5%58,04814.7%127,06125.3%173,20831.4%Total437,662100%404,861100%392,819100%503,127100%551,938100%

Ethnicity

Manchester is an ethnically diverse city, comprising a vast degree of ethnicities from all over the world. The ethnic makeup of the city during the 21st century has changed, with 81% defining themselves as White and 74.5% White British in 2001, and 56.8% defining themselves as white and 48.7% White British in 2021. Asian British people have risen from around 6.6% of the city in 1991, to a total of 20.9% in 2021, with the majority being of Pakistani ethnicity. Black British people have additionally risen, in conjunction with Mixed ethnicity people and Other ethnic groups category, rising from 4.7% in 1991 to 12%, 3.2% in 2001 to 5.2% and 1.4% in 1991 to 5.1% respectively.

Below shows the estimations of the ethnicity of Manchester for 1971 and 1981, and the census results for Manchester's ethnicity in 1991 to 2021. Ethnic groupYear1966 estimations1971 estimations1981 estimations1991 census2001 census2011 census2021 censusNumber%Number%Number%Number%Number%Number%Number%White: Total––512,93695.8%413,95491.3%382,37787.2%318,01381%335,10966.6%313,63256.8%White: British––––––––292,49874.5%298,23759.3%268,57248.7%White: Irish––––––––14,8263.8%11,8432.4%9,4421.7%White: Traveller of Irish heritage––––––––––5090.1%5970.1%White: Gypsy/Roma––––––––––––8830.2%White: Other––––––––10,6892.7%24,5204.9%34,1386.2%Asian / Asian British: Total––––19,2634.2%29,2236.7%41,00310.4%85,98617.1%115,10920.9%Asian / Asian British: Indian––––3,4894,8195,81711,4172.3%14,8572.7%Asian / Asian British: Pakistani––––10,91216,99923,1045.9%42,9048.5%65,87511.9%Asian / Asian British: Bangladeshi––––1,1122,2143,6546,4371.3%9,6731.8%Asian / Asian British: Chinese––––2,4193,2055,12613,5392.7%12,6442.3%Asian / Asian British: Other Asians––––1,3311,9863,30211,6892.3%12,0602.2%Black / Black British: Total––––15,9473.5%20,8664.8%17,7394.5%43,4848.6%65,89312%Black: African––––2,6843,7696,6551.7%25,7185.1%47,8588.7%Black: Caribbean––––9,10311,4739,0442.3%9,6421.9%10,4721.9%Black: Other Blacks––––4,1605,6242,0408,1241.6%7,5631.4%Mixed / British Mixed––––––––12,6733.2%23,1614.6%29,0265.2%White and Black Caribbean––––––––5,2958,8771.8%9,9871.8%White and Black African––––––––2,4124,3970.9%5,9921.1%White and Asian––––––––2,4594,7911%6,1491.1%Any other mixed background––––––––2,5075,0961%6,8981.2%Other: Total––––4,2580.9%6,0331.3%3,3910.9%15,3873.1%28,2785.1%Other: Arab––––––––––9,5031.9%15,0282.7%Other: Any other ethnic group––––––––3,3910.9%5,8841.2%13,2502.4%Ethnic minority14,000–22,4844.2%39,4688.7%56,12212.8%74,80619%168,01833.4%238,30643.2%Total:–100%535,420100%453,422100%438,499100%392,819100%503,127100%551,938100% Ethnic groupSchool year19711997/1998 2004/20052021/2022Number%Number%Number%Number%White: Total–94%44,06876.8%34,86064%34,60937.6%White: British––––33,69829,59132.2%White: Irish––––3733200.3%White: Traveller of Irish heritage––––106870.1%White: Gypsy/Roma––––232860.3%White: Other––––6584,3254.7%Asian / Asian British: Total––––8,89316.3%23,59425.9%Asian / Asian British: Indian––6167702,1632.4%Asian / Asian British: Pakistani––5,3536,20415,83817.3%Asian / Asian British: Bangladeshi––7449712,1572.4%Asian / Asian British: Chinese––4413901,0731.2%Asian / Asian British: Other Asians–– 5582,3632.6%Black / Black British: Total––4,5497.9%4,7008.6%15,69917.1%Black: Caribbean––2,6061,5171,3241.4%Black: African––8012,61811,01412.0%Black: Other Blacks––1,1425643,3613.7%Mixed / British Mixed––––3,5306.5%8,8089.5%Other: Total––1,508 1,6903.1%7,4488.1%Unclassified––800.1%7931.5%1,6281.8%Non-White: Total–6%23%36%62.4%Total:–100%57,359100%54,470100%91,786100%

Religion Religion in Manchester is complex. Manchester's Jewish population increased and then stabilised around 1851 and in 1881 had a Jewish population of around 7,745, making up 2.3% of the population.

In recent decades, the city has seen a large degree of expansion of its Islamic population, now as of 2021 constituting 22.3% of the population, while Christians have declined in pre-dominance to 36.2% in 2021, from 62.4% in 2001. Religion200120112021Number%Number%Number% Christian245,20362.4245,24748.7199,87336.2 Muslim35,8069.179,49615.8122,96222.3 Hindu2,8490.75,4521.16,0481.1 Buddhist2,1440.53,8790.83,2190.6 Sikh1,7080.42,2920.52,7180.5 Jewish3,0760.82,6130.52,6320.5 Other religion1,1110.31,8890.42,7360.5 No religion62,74416.0127,48525.3179,03732.4Religion not stated38,1789.734,7746.932,7135.9Total392,819100%503,127100%551,938100%

Languages A variety of languages are spoken in Manchester. 18.3% do not speak English as their main language, although just 2% or fewer residents are unable to speak English at all. Main language (aged 3+)20112021Number%Number%English400,88683.4%434,28981.7%Non-English79,85216.6%97,19418.3%Total480,738100%531,483100%

Industry

Industry sectorManchester (aged 16 and over in employment)2021Number%A: Agriculture, Forestry and fishing2050.1%B: Mining and quarrying86–C: Manufacturing10,3034.4%D: Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply9690.4%E: Water supply; Sewerage, Waste management and Remediation activities8610.4%F: Construction11,8175.0%G: Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles36,17415.4%H: Transport and storage14,0426.0%J: Information and communication16,4207.0%I: Accommodation and food service activities (Distribution or catering; 1981 + 1991)12,3315.3%K: Financial and insurance activities7,4193.2%L: Real estate activities3,5351.5%M: Professional, scientific and technical activities17,9097.6%N: Administrative and support service activities15,4456.6%P: Education9,9454.2%Q: Human health and social work activities25,44310.9%O: Public administration and defence; compulsory social security40,86717.4%R, S, T, U: Other and not stated10,5194.5%Total234,290100.0 Method of transportation to work Method of transportationManchester (aged 16 and over in employment)2021Number%Work mainly at or from home73,96431.6%Underground, metro, light rail, tram6,1522.6%Train2,8481.2%Bus, minibus or coach23,66910.1%Taxi3,6541.6%Motorcycle, scooter or moped4620.2%Driving a car or van82,37935.2%Passenger in a car or van8,2173.5%Bicycle7,3053.1%On foot22,6479.7%Other method of travel to work (or Not stated)2,9861.3%Total234,283100%

National identity National identity2021Number%British only310,70956.3English only48,8008.8Welsh only2,3100.4Scottish only––Northern Irish only––Any combination of UK only identities6,9851.3English and British only56,40110.2Welsh and British only8910.2Scottish and British only––Northern Irish and British only––Irish only6,1751.1Irish and at least one UK identity9900.2Other identity only103,74818.8Other identity and at least one UK identity14,9292.7Total551,938100%

Education Level of qualificationManchester (aged 16 and over, not in education)2021Number%No qualifications86,11019.7%Level 1 and entry level qualifications34,9888.0%Level 2 qualifications45,16410.3%Apprenticeship15,3223.5%Level 3 qualifications79,62118.2%Level 4 qualifications or above164,76337.6%Other qualifications11,9902.7%Total437,958100.0

See also Demographics of the United Kingdom Demographics of England Demographics of London Demographics of Birmingham Demographics of Greater Manchester List of English cities by population List of English districts by population List of English districts and their ethnic composition List of English districts by area List of English districts by population density

Notes

References