New census data has revealed that Norwich's population has boomed over the last decade, with growth up more than 8 per cent.

The national census has provided up-to-date and detailed population figures for the city for the first time since 2011 when the last census was carried out.

In Norwich, the population size has increased by 8.7 per cent, from around 132,500 in 2011 to 144,000 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.

The city ranked 150th for total population out of 309 local authority areas in England, moving up eight places in a decade.

Population density

According to the ONS, Norwich is the 'fourth most densely populated of the East of England's 45 local authority areas, with around 26 people living on each football pitch-sized area of land. The national average for England is three people for every football pitch-sized piece of land.

At 3,690 residents per square kilometre, Norwich is the 46th most densely populated local authority out of 309 in England.

Nationally, there were 434 residents per square kilometre in England in 2021, up from 407 per square kilometre in 2011.

Age of the population

The ageing population has increased in England. According to last year's census, 10.4 million people - 18.4pc of the population - were aged 65 years and over, up from 8.6 million in 2011.

Norwich, with 14.9 per cent, had the 55th-lowest percentage of residents aged 65 years and over out of 309 local authorities in the country. A total of 21,400 people fell into this bracket last year, compared to 19,345 10 years ago.

Data from the 2021 census will be published in stages over the next two years. Future releases will include figures on ethnicity, religion, the labour market, education and housing plus - for the first time - information on UK armed forces veterans, sexual orientation and gender identity.

The census was taken at a time when coronavirus restrictions were still in place across the UK, with people only allowed to leave their homes in England for recreation and exercise outdoors with their household or support bubble, or with one person outside their household, and the rule-of-six on outside gatherings not coming into place until the end of March.