Population boom in Devon

Devon made it into some census top 10s

Devon is the fastest growing county in the fastest growing region of England, according to the 2001 census.

The total population of the county was officially recorded at 1,074,919, including the Plymouth and Torbay unitary authorities, on census day on 29 April 2001.

This showed a growth of 17.6% (105,300 people) since 1981.

The South West has grown by 12.5% - compared with an average rate for England of 5%.

The region's population rose by 547,058, from 4,381,400 in 1981 to 4,928,458 in 2001.

"We are really confident that we have got a number that is representative of 100% of the population

John Pullinger, census team

There were population rises for most authorities within the county.

Teignbridge showed the biggest local authority population gain in the South West of 26.3%, from just over 89,000 to 120,967 people.

However, Plymouth showed a loss of some 3,000 people over 20 years, from 243,895 in 1981 to 240,718 in 2001.

One part of Devon also made it into two of the top 10 tables of overall results from the census.

The east Devon area has the third highest proportion of people of retirement age in the UK (over 60), with some 30.3% of its 125,525 population.

First was Christchurch with 33.1%.

East Devon also has the fifth highest proportion of persons aged 85 and over, at some 4.1%.

Worthing was highest at 4.6%.

Fictional householders

Number-crunchers have been analysing the results of the survey - which takes place every 10 years - since people began returning the forms after census day in April 2001.

But in an attempt to make up for people missed by the census, the Office for National Statistics has used new techniques to create one million fictional householders to top up the total.

Census officials found certain groups, such as students and elderly women, were difficult to pin down.

So they used new mathematical techniques to predict how many had been missed and where they were likely to live.

John Pullinger of the census team said: "We are really confident that we have got a number that is representative of 100% of the population.