Powys Demographics & Statistics

Profiling the people of Powys

In order to market products or services to the people of Powys, it is important to understand who these people are. It is useful to know the age of the population, their industry types, whether they are likely to be car owners, the number of people in an average household, etc. Please use the statistics below to help you with your marketing calculations.

The County of Powys

Powys is made up of the old Welsh counties of Brecknockshire, Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire. You may find more information on the history of Powys using these county names.

Powys is an extensive, largely upland and extremely rural county covering 2000 square miles, that is about a quarter of the area of Wales. With only 1 person in every 10 acres (4 hectares) it is one of the most sparsely populated local authority areas in England and Wales.

The county has tremendous landscape assets, from the dramatic mountains of the Brecon Beacons National Park and the rolling hills of Radnor Forest to the Berwyn Mountains in the north, and some of Britain's most spectacular river valleys - the Severn, Wye and Usk - sweeping through its glorious scenery.

The economy is based on agriculture and tourism, with high self-employment and small businesses predominating, and an important contribution to employment opportunities from the public sector.

The following State of the County report is an extract made on 04/10/07 from the Powys County Council website at

Sparse Population

The population of Powys in 2006 was 131,141, just 4.4% of the Welsh population of 2.96 million.
The county covers an area of 519,700 hectares, approximately a quarter of the area of Wales. The southwest and northeast extremities of the county are 83 miles apart, approximately the distance from Bath to Heathrow.
With only 1 person to every 4 hectares, Powys is one of the two most sparsely populated local authority areas in England and Wales, the other being Eden District in Cumbria.

Older Age Profile

Compared with the UK as a whole Powys has fewer babies and very young children, a lower proportion of young adults, and a higher proportion of both the older working age group and the retirement age group.
The average age of the Powys population in 2006 was 43 years compared with 41 in Wales and 39 in England and Wales.

Migration-led Growth

Between 1991 and 2001 the Powys population increased by 6%. This was due to net in-migration although there was net out-migration of younger adults.
Net in-migration into Powys is sufficient at present to overcome the net natural decline due to deaths out-numbering births.
If the migration trends of the last decade continue in the next decade, the child population of Powys will continue to fall, the working age population will peak by 2008 then start to decline, and the total population will rise due to the continuing increase in the retirement age population.

UK Origins

Less than 3% of the Powys population were born outside the UK. 44% were born outside Wales, but this includes those who were born in English hospitals to mothers resident in Wales.

Ethnic Group

99% of Powys residents are white compared with 98% in Wales and 91% in the UK.

Welsh

30% of Powys residents have some knowledge of Welsh, (Wales 28%), and these are concentrated in the northwest and southwest of the county. Only 13% of Powys residents identified themselves as Welsh in the 2001 Census (Wales 14%).

Religion

74.8% of Powys residents described themselves as Christian in the voluntary question on religion introduced in the 2001 Census (Wales 71.9%). 16.5% said they had no religion (Wales 18.5%). 7.7% chose not to answer the question (Wales 8.1%).

Households

The average household size in Powys fell from 2.49 persons in 1991 to 2.32 in 2001.
The proportion of households consisting of pensioners living alone rose from 16.0% in 1991 to 16.6% in 2001.
The proportion of households consisting of lone parent families rose from 2.7% in 1991 to 5.1% in 2001.
The proportion of households without central heating dropped from 20.3% in 1991 to 8.5% in 2001.

Health

The proportion of Powys residents with limiting long-term illness rose from 14% in 1991 to 20% in 2001, reflecting the rising average age of the population.

Employment

The Census unemployment rate in Powys fell from 3.6% in 1991 to 2.7% in 2001.
Self employment in Powys rose from 13.3% of the economically active in 1991 to 16.8% in 2001.
The number of jobs (including self-employment) in agriculture, forestry and fishing fell from 7,300 in 1991 to 6,100 in 2001. The number of jobs in all other broad industry sectors rose, notably in distribution and catering which now provides over 20% of Powys jobs.

Dependence on Private Transport

Powys households are less likely than Welsh households to have no car (Powys 17.5%, Wales 26%) and more likely to have 2 or more (Powys 36%, Wales 28.5%). This reflects the lack of public transport and the dispersed settlement pattern.

Sources

1991 and 2001 statistics: Office of National Statistics, Censuses of Population
2003 and 2004 and 2005 and 2006 statistics: Office of National Statistics, mid-year estimates
Local population projections: Powys County Council, Research and Information Unit “1998 based Population Projections for Powys and sub-areas, 2001 to 2016” published September 2001

The Powys Statistical Information Service - At Your Service

These statistics were compiled and published by staff in the Research and Information Unit of Powys County Council who will be pleased to assist you with further information and advice on Powys statistics.

Diana Greaves, tel. 01597 827511, dianag@powys.gov.uk
Geraint Morgan, tel. 01597 827594, gdmorgan@powys.gov.uk

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