Portsmouth demography – JSNA report

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

• Population
• Ethnicity
• National identity
• Main language and English proficiency
• Disability
• Religion
• Unpaid carers
• Gender identity
• Sexual orientation
• Marriage and civil partnership
• Births and deaths
• Future population of Portsmouth

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

View the population interactive data report.

The latest (ONS mid-2024) estimate of the population of Portsmouth is 214,300.

Portsmouth is a compact city covering 40 square kilometres. 75% of the population lives on Portsea Island. Portsmouth is the second most densely populated local authority outside London.

In 2024 (ONS mid-2024 estimate):

• 139,300 people aged 18–64 years were estimated to be a resident in Portsmouth.
• Around 32,000 of Portsmouth 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 old, largely due to the city’s University and colleges (9.3% of Portsmouth’s total population compared with 6.0% nationally).

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.

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%).

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%)

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.

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).

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.

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%).

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.

• View detailed information about Portsmouth births
• View detailed information about Portsmouth deaths

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 2022 and 2047, the number of infants is expected to decrease by about 12% (about 1,300 fewer than in 2022).
• Ages 5–11 years: By 2047, the number of children is expected to decrease by about 21% (about 3,500 fewer than in 2022).
• Ages 12–17 years: By 2047, we expect a decrease of about 18% (about 2,500 fewer children than in 2022).
• Ages 18–24 years: Expected to increase by about 26% by 2032 (about 7,000 more people than in 2022), then decrease by 2047 (about 4,900 fewer people than in 2032).
  • Net effect: By 2047, the 18–24 years group remains above 2022 levels by about 2,100 people overall.

Working age population

Between 2022 and 2032, the number of working age adults (18–64 years) in Portsmouth is expected to increase by about 4% (about 5,600 more people). This growth is driven by younger adults; for example, the 50–59 years group is expected to decrease by about 14% over the same period.
By 2047, the working age population is projected to be about 1,500 fewer than in 2032, but still about 4,100 more than in 2022.

Population aged 65 and over

• Ages 65+ years: Expected to increase by about 18% between 2022 and 2032 (to about 37,000 people), and by about 30% by 2047 compared with 2022.
  • By 2047, about 19% of Portsmouth’s population is expected to be 65+ years (about 40,600 people), up from 15% (about 31,300 people) in 2022.
• Ages 80+ years: Expected to increase by about 26% by 2032 (to about 10,600 people), and by about 72% by 2047 compared with 2022 (to about 14,500 people, up from 8,400 people).