Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the average age of the population of the United Kingdom in (1) 1990, (2) 2000, (3) 2010, (4) what is the current 2020 figure, and (5) the projected figure for 2050.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority. I have therefore asked the Authority to respond.

Dear Lord Maginnis,

As National Statistician and Chief Executive of the UK Statistics Authority, I am responding to your Parliamentary Question asking what the average age of the population of the United Kingdom was in (1) 1990, (2) 2000, (3) 2010, (4) what is the current 2020 figure, and (5) the projected figure for 2050 (HL5312).

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) published the latest (30 June 2019) mid-year population estimates on 6 May 2020[1]. Table MYE6 contains the median age for the years from 2001 to 2019. Median age is that at which half the population is above that age and half below. For 1990, 2000 and 2010, the ONS have used the already published median age, and, for 2020 and 2050, have taken the median age from the latest 2018-based Principal Population Projections, UK Summary[2] published on 21 October 2019. Table 1 shows the median ages for the requested years.

Table 1: UK median ages

Source: ONS mid-year population estimates and 2018-based population projections

Yours sincerely,

Professor Sir Ian Diamond

[1]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationestimates/datasets/populationestimatesforukenglandandwalesscotlandandnorthernireland

[2]https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/populationandmigration/populationprojections/datasets/tablea11principalprojectionuksummary