Demography
| Somerset Compared | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK Census 2001 | Somerset C.C. | North Somerset UA | BANES UA | South West England | England |
| Total population | 498,093 | 188,564 | 169,040 | 4,928,434 | 49,138,831 |
| Foreign born | 7.6% | 9.5% | 11.2% | 9.4% | 9.2% |
| White | 98.8% | 97.1% | 97.3% | 97.7% | 91% |
| Asian | 0.3% | 1.7% | 0.5% | 0.7% | 4.6% |
| Black | 0.2% | 0.9% | 0.5% | 0.4% | 2.3% |
| Christian | 76.7% | 75.0% | 71.0% | 74.0% | 72% |
| Muslim | 0.2% | 0.2% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 3.1% |
| Hindu | 0.1% | 0.1% | 0.2% | 0.2% | 1.1% |
| No religion | 14.9% | 16.6% | 19.5% | 16.8% | 15% |
| Over 75 years old | 9.6% | 9.9% | 8.9% | 9.3% | 7.5% |
| Unemployed | 2.5% | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2.6% | 3.3% |
In the 2001 census the population of the Somerset County Council area was 498,093 with 169,040 in Bath and North East Somerset, and 188,564 in North Somerset giving a total for the historic county of 855,697.
Population growth is higher than the national average, with a 6.4% increase, in the Somerset County Council area, since 1991, and a 17% increase since 1981. The population density is 1.4 persons per hectare, which can be compared to 2.07 persons per hectare for the South West region. Within the county, population density ranges 0.5 in West Somerset to 2.2 persons per hectare in Taunton Deane. The percentage of the population who are economically active is higher than the regional and national average, and the unemployment rate is lower than the regional and national average.
Somerset has a high indigenous British population, with 98.8% registering as white British and 92.4% of these as born in the United Kingdom. Chinese is the largest ethnic group, while the black minority ethnic proportion of the total population is 2.9%. Over 25% of Somerset's population is concentrated in Taunton, Bridgwater and Yeovil. The rest of the county is rural and sparsely populated. Over 9 million tourist nights are spent in Somerset each year, which significantly increases the population at peak times.
| Population since 1801 | |||||||||||||
| Year | 1801 | 1851 | 1901 | 1911 | 1921 | 1931 | 1941 | 1951 | 1961 | 1971 | 1981 | 1991 | 2001 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Somerset CC area | 187,266 | 276,684 | 277,563 | 280,215 | 282,411 | 284,740 | 305,244 | 327,505 | 355,292 | 385,698 | 417,450 | 468,395 | 498,093 |
| BANES | 57,188 | 96,992 | 107,637 | 113,732 | 113,351 | 112,972 | 123,185 | 134,346 | 144,950 | 156,421 | 154,083 | 164,737 | 169,045 |
| North Somerset | 16,670 | 33,774 | 60,066 | 68,410 | 75,276 | 82,833 | 91,967 | 102,119 | 119,509 | 139,924 | 160,353 | 179,865 | 188,556 |
| Total | 261,124 | 407,450 | 445,266 | 462,357 | 471,038 | 479,758 | 520,396 | 563,970 | 619,751 | 682,043 | 731,886 | 812,997 | 855,694 |
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