Census figures show the proportion of over-65s calling Powys home rose in the last decade.

The Census takes place every 10 years, with the latest snapshot captured on March 21 2021.

Figures published by the Office for National Statistics show there were 37,000 people aged 65 and over living in Powys on census day last year – up from 30,246 in 2011, when the Census was last carried out.

It means the proportion of over-65s living in the area rose over the last decade – from 22.7 per cent to 27.8 per cent.

There were 37,800 people aged 29 and under living in Powys on March 21 last year, who accounted for 28.4 per cent of the population – down from 41,478 (31.2 per cent) in 2011.

Of them, 12,200 under-10s called Powys home.

This trend is reflected across England and Wales as a whole, where the population is ageing.

There were 11.1 million over-65s in 2021 – 18.6 per cent of the population – up from 9.2 million in 2011 (16.4 per cent) and 7.3 million (15.0 per cent) 40 years ago.

There has been little change in the ratio of male/female Powys residents. Acording to Census 2021, 49.3 per cent of the population was male and 50.7 per cent was female last year – respectively, this compares to 49.4 per cent and 50.6 per cent 10 years ago.

There has only been a slight rise in the number of people living in Powys too.

On census day, 133,200 people were living in the area – up slightly from 132,976 in 2011, when the last census was carried out.

This represents a much smaller rise in residents compared to the previous decade In the 2001 Census, 126,352 people were living in the area.

This also means the population density has has stayed the same over the last decade, at 26 usual residents per square kilometre.

Across England and Wales, the total population grew 6.3 per cent over the past decade, from 56,075,912 in 2011 to 59,597,300 last year.

This included a 1.4 per cent increase in Wales, where the population rose to 3,107,500 from 3,063,456 in 2011.

There were 24.8 million households in England and Wales on census day 2021, up from 23.4 million in 2011, with an average of 2.4 people in each household – the same as in 2011.

The census was taken at a time when coronavirus restrictions were still in place across the UK, with people only allowed to leave their homes in England for recreation and exercise outdoors with their household or support bubble, or with one person outside their household, and the rule-of-six on outside gatherings not coming into place until the end of March.

Future releases will include figures on ethnicity, religion, the labour market, education and housing plus – for the first time – information on UK armed forces veterans, sexual orientation and gender identity.