The 2021 Census has shown that Monmouthshire’s population rose by 1.8% 2011-2021, from 91,300 to about 93,000.  This rise is significantly less than the Office for National Statistics estimate for 2020 of nearly 95,170.

Newport experienced Wales’s greatest 2011-2021 rise – 9.5%, higher than Cardiff’s 4.7%.  The Forest of Dean rose by 6.1%.

With 26.0% aged 65 or over, Monmouthshire has Wales’s oldest population, confirming the County Council’s concerns about meeting the needs of the elderly.  Further Census data will become available in the coming months.  It will be interesting to see whether the Census figures cause a revision of the ONS population projections and how they influence local planning policy under a new administration.