Skip to main content

THE POPULATION OF WALES


The latest population estimates for Wales have just been released by the Welsh Assembly Government.

The min headline from the data is that the number of people living in wales continues to grow Wales - in June 2008, there were 2,993,400 people resident in Wales. This is an increase of 13,500 on mid-2007. Given this increase, it is likely that we have already passed the 3 million mark for the population of Wales, although this won't be confirmed officially until next year

Interestingly, there was little change in the broad age structure of the population compared to 2007, although Wales continues to have more retired people than the average for the UK - 21.4 per cent are of retirement age (639,400 people) in Wales as compared to 19.2 per cent for the UK.
Given that I have been invited to discuss the Barnett formula with the Holtham review next month, it will interesting to find out whether such considerations are made in the allocation of any funding for social services and health from central government.

Finally, the number of children aged under 5 in Wales increased by 2.8 per cent between mid-2007 and mid-2008, and all local authorities saw an increase. This will clearly have an impact on the provision of educational services within Wales and some critics of school closures may argue that they are premature.

The latest data hasn't been posted on statwales yet, but it will be worth seeing if there is anything else that comes out from the data at a spatial level, such as any 'brain drain effects' from rural to urban counties.

Comments

Dave said…
so the population stats are saying that we have more kids under five but the councils want to shut schools. don't make sense, that one....
August 27, 2009 6:17 pm
Anonymous said…
Accordin to the Western Mule, "Welsh women are also having more children than at any time since the early 1970s, the ONS data showed. The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) for Wales is 1.96 children per woman, up from 1.63 in 2001 and the highest level since 1973".

So it would seem that these councils have got their figures completely wrong in estimating the number of children that will need education during the next decade. Shame on them.
August 28, 2009 8:01 am
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

THE IMPORTANCE OF FRANCHISING

When we talk about start-ups and entrepreneurship, rarely do we discuss the potential of franchising not only as a way of establishing new ventures in the economy but also as a method of growing existing businesses. According to the British Franchising Association, franchising is the granting of a licence by one person (the franchisor) to another (the franchisee), which entitles the franchisee to own and operate their own business under the brand, systems and proven business model of the franchisor. The franchisee also receives initial training and ongoing support, comprising all the elements necessary to establish a previously untrained person in the business. This enables individuals to start their own businesses without having to develop their own ideas and utilising an existing brand and established market. Of course, whilst each franchise business is owned and operated by the franchisee, the franchisor controls the quality and standards of the way in which the business is...
Read more

THE IMPORTANCE OF THE CREATIVE CLASSES

One of my favourite academic books of the last two decades must be the “Rise of the Creative Classes” by Professor Richard Florida.  This was one of the first detailed studies of the growing group of individuals who use their creativity and mental labour to earn a living and not only included those in arts and entertainment, but also people working in science and technology as well as knowledge-based professions such as healthcare, law, business, and finance.  Fast forward to 2022 and Professor Florida has written an updated report on the creative classes although he and his team now identify a different type of individual who is taking full advantage of the growth in digital platforms, social media, and online marketplaces.  Such ‘creators’ are defined as those who use digital technology to make and publish unique creative content, whether in the form of video, film, art, music, design, text, games, or any other media that audiences can access and respond to.  They ...
Read more

INTRAPRENEURSHIP

Whilst we often consider entrepreneurship to be associated predominantly with new start-ups, larger firms - in order to compete effectively in fast-changing global markets - are adopting more innovative and enterprising approaches to management within their organisations. One of these approaches is the development of entrepreneurship within a corporate environment (or intrapreneurship). Research has shown that intrapreneurship is not easy, and there are considerable differences between an intrapreneurial and a traditional corporate culture, with the latter having an emphasis on a culture and reward system that tends to favour caution in decision-making. For example, large businesses rarely operate on a "gut-feeling" for the market-place, as many entrepreneurs do. Instead, large amounts of data are gathered before any major business decision is made, not only for use in rational business decisions, but also for use as justification if the decision does not produce optimu...
Read more