1. Main facts and figures
- according to the 2011 Census, women and girls made up 51% of the population of England and Wales, and men and boys made up 49%
- most ethnic groups had roughly the same male and female populations
- there was a larger female than male population in the Chinese, Black Caribbean and Other White ethnic groups, where women and girls made up 53% of the respective populations
- there was a larger male than female population in the Arab ethnic group, where men and boys made up 58% of the population, and among people who identified as Any other ethnicity (54% men and boys)
2. Things you need to know
What the data measures
The data shows the population of England and Wales by ethnicity and sex. The split between women and girls, and men and boys is shown for each ethnic group.
Census data covers people in around 25 million private households. It also includes communal establishments, such as care homes and university halls of residence.
Percentages are rounded to whole numbers.
Read more about the 2011 Census.
The ethnic groups used in the data
This data uses the standardised list of 18 ethnic groups that were developed for the 2011 Census.
Methodology
Read the detailed methodology document (PDF, 182KB, 14 pages) for this data.
You can find confidence intervals for the data in the ONS archive.
3. By ethnicity
| Ethnicity | Male | Female |
|---|---|---|
| % | % | |
| All | 49 | 51 |
| Asian | 50 | 50 |
| Bangladeshi | 52 | 48 |
| Chinese | 47 | 53 |
| Indian | 51 | 49 |
| Pakistani | 51 | 49 |
| Asian other | 49 | 51 |
| Black | 48 | 52 |
| Black African | 48 | 52 |
| Black Caribbean | 47 | 53 |
| Black other | 50 | 50 |
| Mixed | 50 | 50 |
| Mixed White/Asian | 51 | 49 |
| Mixed White/Black African | 50 | 50 |
| Mixed White/Black Caribbean | 50 | 50 |
| Mixed other | 49 | 51 |
| White | 49 | 51 |
| White British | 49 | 51 |
| White Irish | 48 | 52 |
| White Gypsy/Traveller | 50 | 50 |
| White other | 47 | 53 |
| Other | 55 | 45 |
| Arab | 58 | 42 |
| Any other | 54 | 46 |
Download table data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV) Source data for ‘By ethnicity’ (CSV)
Summary of Male and female populations By ethnicity Summary
This data shows that:
- according to the 2011 Census, women and girls made up 51% of the population of England and Wales, and men and boys made up 49%
- most ethnic groups had roughly the same male and female populations
- there was a larger female than male population in the Chinese, Black Caribbean and Other White ethnic groups, where women and girls made up 53% of the respective populations
- there was a larger male than female population in the Arab ethnic group, where men and boys made up 58% of the population, and among people who identified as Any other ethnicity (54%)
4. Data sources
Source
Type of data
Survey data
Type of statistic
National Statistics
Publisher
Office for National Statistics
Publication frequency
Every 10 years
Purpose of data source
The Census is carried out every 10 years. Data from the March 2021 Census will not be available until 2022, so 2011 Census data is used instead.
Census data gives the government the information it needs to plan and run public services. It is also used as a benchmark for other statistical estimates, and it can help illustrate differences between various groups in the population.
5. Download the data
This file contains: measure, time, ethnicity, ethnicity_type, gender, gender_type, value, value_note, source