Portsmouth demography - JSNA report

View Portsmouth demography data and understand population trends and changes across the city.

This page provides an overview of key data on demographics in Portsmouth. It includes information on:

If you’d like to see our full demography report, you can request it via email at jsna@portsmouthcc.gov.uk.

Population

View the population interactive data report. 

The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) mid-2025 population estimate for Portsmouth is 211,500 residents.

Portsmouth is a compact city covering 40 square kilometres. Around 75% of residents live on Portsea Island. It is the second most densely populated local authority outside London, with around 5,200 people per square kilometre.

In 2025 (ONS mid-2025 estimate):

  • 137,300 residents were aged 18–64 years.
  • Around 32,600 residents were aged 65 years and over.
  • 4,300 residents were aged 85 years and over.
  • Compared to the England average, Portsmouth has a high proportion of young people aged 20–24 years, largely reflecting the city’s university and colleges (9.6% of Portsmouth’s total population compared with 6.0% nationally).

Ethnicity

View the ethnicity interactive data report. 

At the time of the 2021 Census:

  • Portsmouth had a lower percentage of residents from ethnic minority groups (22.3%) compared to England (26.5%).
  • There were 46,337 Portsmouth residents from ethnic minorities
  • Portsmouth’s ethnic minorities increased from 16.0% in 2011 to 22.3% in 2021

Ethnic minority categories 

Of the 18 ethnic minority categories:

  • the most common was ‘White: Other White’ with 6.8% (14,105 residents). This was also the largest ethnic minority group percentage point increase since 2011 (3.8% in 2011, 7,713 residents).
  • the second largest increase in was in the ‘Black, Black British, Black Welsh, Caribbean or African: African’ group where the number nearly doubled (5,369 residents in 2021 compared to 2,958 residents in 2011). As a percentage of the total population this went from 1.4% in 2011 to 2.6% in 2021.

Ethnicity and age groups 

In 2021, over 93% of Portsmouth’s population aged 65 years and over identified as White: English, Welsh, Scottish, Northern Irish or British.

  • 26.1% aged 0-17 years were from ethnic minorities
  • 30.0% of Portsmouth’s population aged 18-39 years were from ethnic minorities
  • 18.3% aged 40-64 years of Portsmouth’s population were from ethnic minorities
  • 6.8% aged 65 years and over were from ethnic minorities.

National identity

View the national identity interactive data report. 

UK identities in Portsmouth at the time of Census 2021:

  • the percentage of people who identified as British only increased from 17.53% in 2011 to 55.95% in 2021.
  • The opposite trend was seen for the "English" only identity - decreasing from 62.45% to 15.12%;
  • but the percentage of people who identified as "English and British only" increased from 9.50% to 15.13%.
  • Note: In Census 2021, “British” was moved to the top response option and this may have influenced how people described their national identity.

Non-UK identities in Portsmouth at the time of Census 2021:

  • the percentage of people who did not identify with at least one UK national identity increased from 7.45% in 2011 to 10.43% in 2021.
  • Of the Portsmouth population identifying as non-UK identities in 2021, Romanian was the most common (1.21%) - previously 0.17% in 2011. Polish was the second most common non-UK identity (1.12%).

Main language and English proficiency

View the main language and English proficiency interactive data report. 

English as a main language

  • In 2021, 90.8% of Portsmouth residents (182,731 people) aged 3 years and over, had English as a main language.
  • 18,544 Portsmouth residents (9.2%) did not identify English as their main language. This percentage is the same as England.

Other main languages 

The most common main languages, other than English, were:

  • Romanian (1.25%)
  • Polish (1.14%)
  • Bengali (0.81%)
  • Portuguese (0.48%)

Disability

View the disability interactive data report. 

Disability and age are closely related, with older people being more likely to be disabled. At the time of the Census 2021:

  • the percentage of disabled residents in Portsmouth (19.2%) was higher than England (17.7%), and South East region (16.1%), but lower than Southampton (19.5%).
  • The percentage of residents identified as “disabled: day-to-day activities limited a lot” in Portsmouth (8.1%) was lower than Southampton (8.2%), but higher than England (7.5%) and South East region (6.2%).
  • The percentage of residents identified as “disabled: day-to-day activities limited a little” in Portsmouth (11.1%) was lower than Southampton (11.3%), but higher than England (10.2%) and South East region (9.9%).

This report uses age-standardised proportions (ASPs). These account for differences in the population size and age structure.

Religion

View the religion interactive data report. 

Christianity

  • In 2021, less than half of the population described themselves as “Christian” in Portsmouth (39.4%, a 12.8% decrease from 52.2% in 2011).
  • “Christian” was the most common response to the religion question in 2011, but was the second most common response in 2021.

No religion

  • “No religion” was the most common response in Portsmouth in 2021, increasing to 47.1% in 2021 from 35.0% in 2011.

Other religions 

There were increases in the number of people in Portsmouth who described themselves as:

  • “Muslim” (10,174 residents; 4.9% in 2021; up from 7,162 residents; 3.5% in 2011);
  • “Hindu” (1,596 residents; 0.8% in 2021; up from 1,282 residents; 0.6% in 2011);
  • and “Other religion” (1,259 residents; 0.6% in 2021; up from 1,050 residents; 0.5% in 2011).

The percentage who described themselves as “Jewish” and “Sikh” remained similar from 2011 to 2021 (0.1% and 0.2% respectively). The number of people who described themselves as “Buddhist” decreased (1,077 residents; 0.5% in 2021, down from 1,162 residents; 0.6% in 2011). 

6.4% of Portsmouth’s population did not answer the religion question in 2021, which is similar to the England average (6.0%). The percentage not answering the question in Portsmouth in 2021 was lower than in 2011 (7.3% in 2011).

Unpaid carers

View the unpaid carers interactive data report. 

In 2021, the percentage of residents aged 5 years and over who provided:

  • any amount of unpaid care in Portsmouth (8.4%) was lower than England (8.9%), South East region (8.5%), and Southampton (8.5%).
  • 19 hours or less unpaid care a week in Portsmouth (4.0%) was lower than England (4.4%) and South East region (4.5%), but higher than Southampton (3.9%).
  • 20 to 49 hours unpaid care a week in Portsmouth (1.7%) was lower than England (1.8%) and Southampton (1.8%), but higher than South East region (1.6%).
  • 50 or more hours unpaid care a week in Portsmouth (2.7%) was the same as England (2.7%) and lower than Southampton (2.8%); but higher than South East region (2.4%).

These percentage comparisons are age-standardised proportions (ASPs). These account for differences in the population size and age structure.

Gender identity

View the gender identity interactive data report. 

Following a review of gender identity statistics by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) and Office for National Statistics (ONS) on 12 September 2024, the 'Official Statistics' have been renamed to 'Official Statistics in development'. ONS’s decision to label these data as statistics in development supports its desire to publicly reflect the evolving understanding of gender identity and to undertake further research. 

At the time of the 2021 Census, Portsmouth had a lower percentage of residents, aged 16 years and over, whose gender identity matched the sex they were registered with at birth (Cis gender identity) when compared to England (93.08% compared to 93.47%). However, 6.25% of Portsmouth residents did not answer the question, which was higher than England (5.98%). 

Portsmouth had a higher percentage of residents aged 16 years and over identifying as ‘Trans’ (gender identity was different from their sex registered at birth) than England (0.67% compared to 0.55%)

Sexual orientation

View the sexual orientation interactive data report. 

At the time of the 2021 Census, of Portsmouth residents aged 16 or over:

  • 4.65% identified as LGB+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual or other minority sexual orientations such as asexual) – higher than England (3.17%).
  • 7.68% did not answer the sexual orientation question – higher than England (7.46%).
  • 87.68% identified as straight or heterosexual – lower than England (89.37%).

Marriage and civil partnership

View the marriage and civil partnership interactive data report. 

At the time of the 2021 Census, of Portsmouth residents aged 16 or over:

  • The highest percentage of the population (46.19%) were in the ‘Never Married/Never registered in a civil partnership’ category (this was also the highest percentage in 2011 – 43.54%)
  • The next highest percentage of the population (36.03%) were in the ‘Married’ category (36.90% in 2011)
  • The category with the lowest percentage (0.20%) was ‘Civil Partnership’ (0.26% in 2011)
  • The category with the next lowest percentage (2.42%) was ‘Separated, but still legally married/in a civil partnership (2.91% in 2021)
  • The proportion of the population that have never been married or registered in a civil partnership increased while the proportions within all other categories decreased between 2011 and 2021.

Portsmouth births and deaths

Future population of Portsmouth

Population projections are based on the Office for Statistics 2022-based subnational population projections.

Children and young people (0–24 years)

  • Ages 0–4 years: Between 2026 and 2050, the number of infants is expected to decrease by about 5.9% (about 600 fewer than in 2025).
  • Ages 5–11 years: By 2050, the number of children is expected to decrease by about 15.6% (about 2,600 fewer children).
  • Ages 12–17 years: By 2050, we expect a decrease of about 20.7% (about 3,000 fewer children and young people than in 2022).
  • Ages 18–24 years: Expected to increase by about 8.3% by 2032 (about 2,300 more people than in 2025), before decreasing in 2050
    • Net effect: By 2050 the 18–24 year age group is expected to be around 5,500 fewer than at the projected 2032 peak.

Working age population 

  • Ages 18–64 years: projected to increase by 2.2% between 2025 and 2035, around 3,000 more people.
  • Growth is mainly expected among residents aged 20–24 years and 40–54 years.
  • By 2050, the working-age population is projected to be around 1,300 lower than in 2035, but still around 1,700 higher than in 2025.

Population aged 65 and over

  • Ages 65+ years: projected to increase by 20.3% between 2025 and 2035, reaching around 39,200 people, and by 34.7% by 2050.
  • By 2050, around 20.1% of Portsmouth’s population is projected to be aged 65+ years, around 43,900 people, compared with 15.4% and around 32,600 people in 2025.
  • Ages 80+ years: projected to increase by 31.5% by 2035, reaching around 11,400 people.
  • By 2050, this age group is projected to increase by 81.7%, from around 8,700 people in 2025 to around 15,700 people.

What was wrong with this page?