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Written question asked by James Clappison (Conservative) on Monday, 26 November 2007, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 29 November 2007. It was answered by Angela Eagle (Labour) on Monday, 3 December 2007 on behalf of the Office for National Statistics.

Population

Question
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the population densities are expected to be of (a) the UK, (b) England, (c) Scotland, (d) Wales and (e) Northern Ireland on the basis of the change in population forecast by the Government Actuary Department and the Office for National Statistics in 2031; what the respective population densities are currently; and if he will rank the UK in terms of the 2007 population density of each EU member state, giving the population density for each member state.
Answer

[holding answer 29 November 2007]: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician who has been asked to reply.Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 3 December 2007:"As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question regarding what the population densities are expected to be of (a) the UK, (b) England, (c) Scotland, (d) Wales and (e) Northern Ireland on the basis of the change in population forecast by the Office for National Statistics in 2031; what the respective population densities are currently; and the rank of the UK in terms of the 2007 population density of each EU member state, giving the population density for each member state. (169303)""The latest comparable information on population densities for EU member states relates to 2005. It is provided in Table A.""Actual and projected densities for the four countries of the UK are provided in Table B. The latest actual data relates to 2006. Figures are also given for 2005 to provide comparability with Table A."

Table A: Population density of each EU member state¹, 2005
persons/sq km
Country Density
1 Malta 1,274
2 Netherlands 393
3 Belgium 341
4 United Kingdom 248
5 Germany 232
6 Italy 195
7 Luxembourg 177
8 Czech Republic 129
9 Denmark 126
10 Poland 118
11 Portugal 114
12 France 111
13 Slovakia 110
14 Hungary 108
15 Austria 99
16 Slovenia 99
17 Romania 91
18 Cyprus 90
19 Spain 86
20 Greece 84
21 Bulgaria 70
22 Ireland 59
23 Lithuania 52
24 Latvia 36
25 Estonia 30
26 Sweden 20
27 Finland 16
¹ Table includes Bulgaria and Romania although they were not members of the EU in 2005. Source: World Population Prospects: The 2006 Revision (United Nations).
Table B: Actual and projected population density of UK and constituent countries, 2005, 2006 and 2031
persons/sq km
2005 2006 2031
United Kingdom 248 250 293
England 387 390 464
Wales 142 143 159
Scotland 65 66 69
Northern Ireland 127 128 147
Source: 2005 and 2006 estimates and 2006-based projections, ONS.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
468 c1035-6W; 169303
Session
2007-08
Related items
Population
Monday, 18 February 2008
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects
Population
Link
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