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Living Locations

Answer

The information requested falls with the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated 25 July 2006:"The National Statistician and Registrar General for England and Wales has been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many and what percentage of people in the UK lived in (a) rural and (b) urban areas in each year since 1997; and what estimates have been made for each year to 2020. I am replying in her absence. (88643)""Figures on urban and rural areas are only available for 2001, Census year. In England and Wales urban areas are defined by Department of Communities and Local Government’s (DCLG) as settlements with a usually resident population of 10,000 or more people/Figures for England and Wales have been presented on this basis. Responsibility for urban/rural definitions is a devolved matter and, as such, definitions differ across the UK, however comparable figures are available across the UK for the number of people living in settlements with 10,000 or more usual residents. The table shows the number of people who (i) live in settlements with a usually resident population of 10,000 or more people and (ii) live either in settlements of under 10,000 people or do not live in a settlement i.e. the remainder.""The England and Wales figures have been extracted from Table KS01 on the CD supplement to the Census 2001 Rural and Urban Classification 2004, which is available on request from the Office for National Statistics Census Customer Services: census.customerservices@ons.gsi.gov.uk""The Scotland figures have been extracted from Table KS01 from Scotland’s Census 2001 Key Statistics for Settlements and Localities Scotland, which is available on request from the General Register Office for Scotland's, Census Customer Services [customer@gro-scotland.gsi.gov.uk].""The Northern Ireland figures have been extracted from Table KS01 on the Census 2001 Key Statistics for Settlements Report, which is available on request from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency’s Census Customer Services [census.nisra@dfpni.gov.uk]. Further information on settlement classifications in Northern Ireland can be found at: http://www.nisranew.nisra.gov.uk/statistics/financeandpersonnel/DMB/urban_rural.htm"

Number and percentage of people who (i) live in settlements with a usually resident population of 10,000 or more and (ii) live either in settlements of under 10,000 people or do not live in a settlement i.e. the remainder, United Kingdom, April 2001
		People living in settlements with 10,000 people or more	People living outside settlements of 10,000 people or more
Area	All people	Number	Percentage	Percentage	Percentage
United Kingdom	58,789,194	45,938,430	78.14	12,850,764	21.86
England	49,138,831	39,631,606	80.65	9,507,225	19.35
Wales	2,903,085	1,865,989	64.28	1,037,096	35.72
Scotland	5,062,011	3,446,036	68.08	1,615,975	31.92
Northern Ireland	1,685,267	994,799	59.03	690,468	40.97
Notes:
In England and Wales, settlements with 10,000 or more people are defined as urban and settlements with less than 10,000 people are defined as rural.
Source:
Table KS01 in the Census 2001 Rural and Urban Classification 2004, Table KS01 from Scotland’s Census 2001 Key Statistics for Settlements and Localities Scotland and Table KS01 on the Census 2001 Key Statistics for Settlements Report

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

449 c1376-8W; 88643

Session

2005-06

Subjects

Population Rural areas Urban areas

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk