JSNA – People – Population Overview

Broad Population Overview

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Population size

  • According to the 2021 Census, Barnet has 389,340 residents. This makes it the 2nd largest London borough by population size. Compared to the 2011 Census, Barnet’s population grew by 9%; this is a larger population growth than the London average (7.6%) and the England average (6.6%).
  • There are more females than males in Barnet, with 51.6% of the population being female and 48.4% male.
  • Barnet has a population density of 4,489 persons per square kilometre, a 8.9% increase compared to the 2011 Census. Grahame Park has the highest population density in Barnet at 13,360.4 persons per square kilometre and Totteridge & Barnet Gate has the lowest at 648.7 persons per square kilometre.

Households

  • According to the 2021 Census, there are 148,917 households in Barnet. This is a 9.6% increase from the 2011 Census.
  • The most common household composition type is single family households at 19% – this is defined as a married or civil partnership couple with dependent children.
  • 56% of all households are one or two person households, with an average number of 2.6 people per household – this is the same as the London average.
  • Purpose-built block of flats or tenement continues to be the most common type of accommodation in Barnet in 2021 (36.6% of total households).
  • 50% of households have at least one dimension of deprivation (employment, education, health and disability, or housing). This is a 6.4% increase from the 2011 Census. The three MSOAs with the highest rate of households with at least one dimension of deprivation are Burnt Oak & Watling Park, Brent Cross & Staples Corner, Grahame Park.

Legal Partnership Status, Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

  • According to the 2021 Census, 47% of residents are married to either the same or opposite sex. This is higher than the London average of 39.7% and has remained the same since the 2011 Census.
  • 38.4% of residents have never married or registered a civil partnership.
  • 2.3% residents aged 16 and over (8,633 residents total) identify as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, or Other (LGB+), as according to the 2021 Census. This was the first census where this information was collected.
  • 0.8% of residents (2,550 residents total) identify with a sex difference to their sex registered at birth.

Migration

  • The 2021 Census estimates the total number of Barnet’s population born in the United Kingdom to be 221,293 which makes up 56.8% of the total population of Barnet. This has fallen by 4.3% compared to the 2011 Census.
  • Countries of birth that had the highest increase include Romania and Iran.

Ethnicity, Religion and Language

  • The 2021 Census showed that 57.7% of Barnet’s population identify as White, 19.3% as Asian, 9.8% as Other ethnicity, 7.9% as Black, and 5.4% as Mixed.
  • Those that reside in Barnet and identified as White British made up 36.2% of the population; this is a 9.3% reduction compared to the 2011 Census.
  • In the 2021 Census, Christianity was the most common religion in Barnet (36.6% of Barnet’s residents); this has decreased 4.7% compared to 2011. 20.2% of Barnet’s population described themselves as having “No religion”, a 4.1% increase from 2011.
  • Barnet has largest Jewish population of any London borough at 14.5% of residents, compared to the London average of 1.7%.
  • 77.1% of residents aged over 5 state English as their main language in the 2021 Census – this is 1.3% below London average. 95.9% self-identify as being proficient in the English language.
  • The top 5 languages other than English are Romanian (3.0%), Persian or Farsi (2.3%), Polish (1.5%), Gujarati (1.4%), and Portuguese (1.0%).

Employment

  • 64.6% of residents in Barnet in the 2021 Census are classified as economically active which is a reduction of 6.8% against the 2011 Census.
    It is noteworthy that the Census 2021 took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, a period of unparalleled and rapid change that had a vast effect on employment and the labour force across the country.
  • Residents classified as being ‘economically inactive due to retirement’ had the largest increase with 14.9% of Barnet’s population noting they are retired, representing an increase of 6.8% versus the 2011 Census.

Health, Disability & Unpaid Care

  • 85.9% of Barnet residents report having good or very good health. This is a 1.4% increase from the 2011 Census and 1.9% above the 2021 Census average of all local authorities in London.
  • 12.8% of Barnet’s population are disabled under the Equality Act, with day to day activities limited a little (7.1%) or a lot (5.7%). Overall, this is a 1.2% decrease compared to the 2011 Census.
  • 7.9% of Barnet’s population provide unpaid care. The proportion providing 19 hours or less unpaid care a week has decreased by 1.7% since the 2011 Census whilst the proportion providing 20 hours or more unpaid care a week has risen by 0.5%.

Education

  • 83,439 school children and students in full-time education – this represents 23% of Barnet residents.
  • According to the 2021 Census, 49% have level 4 qualification or higher, defined as a Higher National Certificate, Higher National Diploma, Bachelor’s degree, or post-graduate qualifications. This is a 8.7% increase from the 2011 Census and is similar to the 2021 London average, though higher than the 2021 England average of 33.9%. Hampstead Garden Suburb had the highest proportion of residents with level 4 qualification or above at 64.4%.
  • 15% of residents have no qualifications, the same proportion seen in the 2011 Census. This is similar to the London average and 3% lower than the England average. Burnt Oak & Watling Park had the highest proportion of residents with no qualifications, at 24%.
  • In Barnet, the qualification that showed the greatest growth from the 2011 to 2021 Census was apprenticeship, rising from 1.3% of residents to 3.1%.