The latest population figures produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on 23 November 2023 show that an estimated 552,600 people live in Bradford District - an increase of 5,800 people (1%) since the mid-2021 population estimates were published.

Bradford District is the fifth largest metropolitan district (in terms of population) in England, after Birmingham, Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester.

The increase in the District's population is largely due to "natural change"- (there have been around 1,900 more births than deaths) and migration (there have been around 3,900 more people coming to live in Bradford than leaving for other parts of the UK and overseas).

A large proportion of Bradford's population is dominated by the younger age groups. More than one-quarter (28.2%) of the District's population is aged less than 20 and nearly seven in ten people are aged less than 50. Bradford has the sixth highest percentage (25.5%) of the under 18 population in England after the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, Slough Borough Council, Luton Borough Council, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and Oldham Borough Council.

The population of Bradford is ethnically diverse. The largest proportion of the district's population (56.7%) identifies themselves as White British. The district has the second largest proportion of people of Pakistani ethnic origin (25.5%) in England.

The largest religious group in Bradford is Christian (33.4% of the population) followed by Muslims (30.5%). 28.2% stated that they had no religion.

There are 209,900 households in the Bradford district. Most households own their own home (31.9% outright and 29.9% with a mortgage or loan). The percentage of privately rented households is 23%. 30.8% of households were single person households.

Information from the Annual Population Survey in June 2021 found that Bradford has 225,000 people aged 16-64 in employment. At 68% this is significantly lower than the national rate (76%). 105,200 (around 1 in 3 people) aged 16-64, are not in work - this includes full-time students, people who are looking after their home and family as well as people who are unemployed. The claimant count rate is 6.9% which is higher than the regional and national averages.

Skill levels are improving with 33.4% of 16 to 74 year olds educated to degree level. 31.4% of the district's employed residents work in public admin, education and health. The percentage of people working in manufacturing has continued to decrease from 14.6% in 2012 to 10.5% in 2022. This is still higher than the average for Great Britain (8.2%). (This data is derived from 2018 based projections which use demographic trends which pre-date the COVID-19 pandemic).



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