The population of England and Wales is ageing, with almost one in five (18.6%) of people age 65 and over, according to the first Census 2021 estimates.

This is a rise from 16.4% since the 2011 census.

The local authorities with the highest percentages of the population age 65 and over were North Norfolk (33.4%) and Rother (32.4%).

East Devon had the highest percentage of the population age 90 year and over (1.9%) followed by Rother (1.8%).

London had the largest percentage of people aged between 15 and 64 years, making up 70% of the population.

The population of England and Wales on 21 March 2021 was 59,597,300, an increase of over 3.5m (6.3%) since 2011.

The population in England is growing faster than that of Wales, with population growth of 6.6% and 1.4% respectively.

Women made up 51% of the overall population.

The fastest growing region for population growth was the East of England, which increased by 8.3% from 2011, a gain of approximately 488,000 people.

Pete Benton, deputy national statistician at the Office for National Statistics, said: “Today’s census statistics begin to paint a rich and detailed snapshot of the nation and how we were living during the pandemic. They show the population of England and Wales continued to grow across the decade, albeit at different rates across the regions.

“Since census day the world has continued to change. People continue to move home, some people will have left the country, others will have arrived. People will have changed jobs, some of us now work in offices once again, while others continue to work from home.

“We need to understand all of this and more. The results from Census 2021 – and there’s lots more to follow - therefore provide a key bridge from the past to the future as we deliver more frequent, relevant and timely statistics using data from across government to allow us to understand population change in local areas this year and beyond.”

The population figures are the first in a series of Census 2021 data being released by the Office for National Statistics over the next two years.

All households in England and Wales were required to fill out a Census survey on 21 March 2021.