2021 Census population figures

In Luton, the population increased by 10.9 per cent, from 203,200 in 2011 to 225,300 in 2021. This is higher than the overall increase for England (6.6 per cent), where the population grew by nearly 3.5 million to 56,489,800. Tower Hamlets saw the largest percentage growth in England of 22.2 per cent with Dartford the next biggest at 20 per cent.

Kensington and Chelsea saw their population decrease by 9.6 per cent with other large areas such as Sunderland, Gateshead Swansea, Camden and Westminster also seeing population decline between 2011 and 2021.

At 10.9 per cent, Luton's population increase is higher than the increase for the East of England (8.3 per cent). Regionally the largest population increases have been seen in Bedford and Cambridge, where the populations have grown by 17.7 per cent and 17.6 per cent, respectively.

At the other end of the scale coastal areas in the East of England region saw the slowest population growth with North Norfolk increasing by just 1.5 per cent.

Since 2011, in Luton there has been an increase of 12.2 per cent in children aged under 15 years, an increase of 10.6 per cent in people aged 15 to 64 years, and an increase of 11.0 per cent in people aged 65 years and over. In comparison nationally there has been an increase of 4.8 per cent in children aged under 15 years, an increase of 3.6 per cent in people aged 15 to 64 years, and an increase of 19.1 per cent in people aged 65 years and above.

In Luton the 55 to 59 and over 90 age groups had population growth above 30 per cent over the last decade. There was a 12 per cent decrease in the 25 to 29 age group.

Table 1 (shown in the Luton population by age tab) and figure 4 show that Luton’s population is younger than average, with a higher proportion of younger people than nationally and a lower proportion of older people. The under 15 age group account for 21.9 per cent of the Luton population compared with 17.4 per cent nationally. The 15 to 64 age group account for 66.3 per cent of the Luton, a similar proportion to the national figure (64.2 per cent). The 65 and over age group represents 11.8 per cent of the Luton population compared with 18.4 per cent nationally.

The number of households in Luton grew from 74,300 to 78,900 between 2011 and 2021, a growth rate of 6.2 per cent. The total population growth in Luton was 10.9 per cent which indicates that household overcrowding in Luton is increasing. Neighbouring authorities Bedford and Central Bedfordshire had population growth of 17.7 per cent and 15.7 per cent with household growth of 17.4 per cent and 15.7 per cent respectively.