Demography of Belfast

The city of Belfast is the provincial capital of Northern Ireland. The population of the Belfast Local Government District was 345,418 in 2021. The population within the city limits of Belfast in 2021 was 293,298.[1]

Demographics of Belfast
Population pyramid of Belfast
Population345,418 (2021)

Population
Population density of Belfast City Council in 2011

Population

The total population of Belfast Local Government District was 345,418 in 2021, an increase of 3.5%.[9][1]

Sex

In 2021, 51% of the population was female while 49% was male.[9]

Age
Population pyramid of Belfast in 2021

The age demographics of Belfast is different to the rest of the constituent country, 18% were aged 0 to 14, 37% aged 15 to 39, 30% aged 40 to 64 and 15% aged 65 and above.[9]

Ethnicity
Ethnic demography of Belfast over time
Percentage born outside the UK and Ireland in 2011

Belfast has become in recent decades an ethnically diverse city, although this ethnic diversity is not to the same scale as other cities across the United Kingdom. Previously, the city was exclusively white (categorised as a simplified ethnic group within Northern Ireland) at 98% white in 2001, however by 2021, this had dropped down to 93%.[9]

Ethnic group 2001[10] 2011[11] 2021[12][13]
Number  % Number  % Number %
White: Total 324,775 98.8% 323,090 96.8% 321,666 93.1%
White 324,475 98.7% 322,813 96.7% – –
White: British/Irish/Northern Irish only (national identity) and Christian/no religion/religion not stated (religion) – – – – 303,252 87.8%
White: Other – – – – 17,801 5.2%
White: Irish Traveller/White Gypsy 300 277 299
White: Roma – – – – 314
Asian or Asian British: Total 2,181 0.6% 7,208 2.2% 12,908 3.7%
Asian/Asian British: Indian 461 – 2,330 0.7% 4,361 1.3%
Asian/Asian British: Pakistani 187 – 258 – 492
Asian/Asian British: Bangladeshi 68 – 210 – – –
Asian/Asian British: Chinese 1,383 0.4% 2,378 0.7% 4,738 1.4%
Asian/Asian British: Filipino – – – – 1,637
Asian/Asian British: Asian Other 82 – 2,032 0.6% 1,680
Black or Black British: Total 320 – 1,334 0.4% 4,640 1.3%
Black or Black British: Caribbean 67 – 95 – – –
Black or Black British: African 168 – 1,074 0.3% 4,127 1.2%
Black or Black British: Other 85 – 165 – 513
Mixed: Total 837 – 1,599 0.5% 4,159 1.2%
Other: Total 504 – 640 – 2,046 0.6%
Other: Any other ethnic group – – – – 1,032
Other: Arab – – – – 1,014
Ethnic minority: Total 3,842 1.2% 10,781 3.2% 23,753 6.9%
Total 328,617 100% 333,871 100% 345,419 100%

Migration

Country of birth

84% of Belfast was born within Northern Ireland, 4% within England, less than 1% for Scotland and Wales, 2% within the Republic of Ireland and 10% from other countries.[9]

Passports held

43% of Belfast has a UK passport only, 29% has a Republic of Ireland passport only, 6% has both UK and RoI (Republic of Ireland) passports, 8% have other passports and 14% have no passport.[9]

Percentage Catholic or brought up Catholic in 2011

Religion

Similarly to the trend across all of Northern Ireland, the Protestant population within the city has been in decline, while the non-religious, other religious and Catholic population has risen. In 2021, the proportion of residents who identified as Catholic was 43%, 12% Presbyterian, 8% for the Church of Ireland, 3% Methodist, 6% of Christian religions, 3% other religions and 24% no religion or not stated.[9]

Identity
Most commonly stated national identity in 2011

In 2021 the largest identity group was 'Irish only' with 35% of the population. After this was; British only 27%, Northern Irish only 17%, British and Northern Irish only 7%, Irish and Northern Irish only 2%, British, Irish and Northern Irish only 2%, British and Irish less than 1% and Other identities with 10%.[9]

References
  1. "Settlement 2015". NISRA. Retrieved 17 August 2023.
  2. Wakefield, Edward (1812). An account of Ireland, statistical and political: in two volumes. Vol. 2. London: Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme and Brown. pp. 693–694. Archived from the original on 31 December 2015. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  3. "Census for post 1821 figures". Cso.ie. Archived from the original on 20 September 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  4. "Home". Histpop.Org. 2 April 2007. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 13 November 2010.
  5. "Northern Ireland Census of Population". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Archived from the original on 4 April 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  6. Lee, J. J. (1981). "On the accuracy of the Pre-famine Irish censuses". In Goldstrom, J. M.; Clarkson, L. A. (eds.). Irish Population, Economy, and Society: Essays in Honour of the Late K. H. Connell. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
  7. Mokyr, Joel; O Grada, Cormac (November 1984). "New Developments in Irish Population History, 1700–1850". The Economic History Review. 37 (4): 473–488. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.1984.tb00344.x. hdl:10197/1406. Archived from the original on 4 December 2012.
  8. "Belfast City Council. Belfast: A Profile of the City. Demographics". Belfastcity.gov.uk. Archived from the original on 25 September 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
  9. "Belfast Census Data". explore.nisra.gov.uk. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  10. "Ethnic Group: KS06 (administrative geographies)". NISRA.
  11. "2011 Census key statistics tables on ethnicity, identity, language and religion". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 2022-08-16. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  12. "Racial Equality (The Executive Office)". build.nisra.gov.uk. Retrieved 2023-06-25.
  13. "Census 2021 main statistics ethnicity tables". Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. 2022-09-07. Retrieved 2022-09-23.
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