Photo: Nigel Thompson · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 52.2: Abergele is older than 92% of UK towns
Just over a third of households are one person living alone (Wales’s towns: 32%). The 2021 Census put Abergele’s population at 8,531, in 3,989 households. For Abergele, the census puts households in detached houses at 47%. Few places have so few households in terraced houses: 11% here, fewer than in 86% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Abergele’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Abergele’s residents are under 52.2 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 33% are 65 or over, against 21% across Wales’s towns. Ages ↓
A Welsh-speaking town
1,756 residents, 21% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh in 2021, more than in 77% of Welsh towns. Welsh language ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area) and ONS mid-year population estimates.
Growth of +13% since 2011 puts Abergele ahead of 70% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Abergele’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 8,100 people in 2011; 9,200 in 2024.
Of the age groups, 0 to 15 changed most (+26%) and 45 to 64 least (+1%). The steepest year was mid-2020 to mid-2021, up 280 people.
Abergele sits above 95% of UK towns for residents aged 65 and over (33%)
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Here 7.9% of residents are aged 15 to 24, where the figure across Wales’s towns is 12%. As a reference point, 21% of residents are 65 or over across Wales’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Abergele, 52.2. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
53% women, 47% men
About 88 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women. Women live longer than men, so towns with many older residents have more women.
Full-time students: 3.9%, a lower share than 85% of UK towns
What adults did at the 2021 Census (the ONS’s NS-SEC classes), and where residents lived a year earlier.
Adults by occupation class · residents 16 and over
Address a year before the Census
Residents who lived somewhere else a year earlier. The bar runs to 25%.
Across Wales’s towns, 29% of adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 27% in routine or semi-routine work; Abergele has 33% and 25%. The usual figure: 8% of adults are full-time students across Wales’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year: nearly a tenth of the total.
Only 21% of households in Abergele have dependent children
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Clwyd’s towns and Wales’s towns
People per household
Wales’s towns.
At 2.1 people, the average household compares with 2.3 across Wales’s towns. Abergele has fewer shared households of unrelated adults than 73% of UK towns, at 1.9%. Across the comparison, 27% of households have dependent children across Wales’s towns.
18% of households have no car or van, a share 63% of UK towns don’t reach
Accommodation type and cars or vans per household, Census 2021. Owning and renting are on Cost of living.
Type of home
Cars or vans · share of households
One in ten households live in a flat or apartment, against 14% across Wales’s towns. By way of comparison, just over a fifth of households have no car or van across Wales’s towns.
More residents whose main language is English than 73% of UK towns: 99%
Country of birth, year of arrival and main language, Census 2021.
Born outside the UK, by region · share of all residents; the bar runs to 10%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
The two biggest birthplaces abroad are in EU countries (1.9%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.6%). Few places have so few residents born outside the UK: 4.6% here, fewer than in 69% of UK towns. For residents whose main language is English, the comparison across Wales’s towns is 96%. The newest arrivals, from 2017 or later, are 17% of those born abroad (against 23% across Wales’s towns).
A Welsh-speaking share of 21% in Abergele
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
At the 2021 Census, 1,756 residents aged 3 and over, 21%, said they can speak Welsh, against 16% across Welsh towns: more than in 77% of Welsh towns. Llanfairfechan leads Clwyd with 44%.
Abergele ranks above 78% of UK towns on residents who describe themselves as Christian: 54%
How residents described themselves at the 2021 Census. Lines join the lowest and highest of the three figures.
Ethnic groups other than White British · all residents
White British, not charted: 95% of Abergele · Clwyd’s towns 92% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
After White British, the most common groups are Other White (1.9%), Mixed or multiple (1.1%) and Indian (0.7%). Residents who describe themselves as Christian: 43% across Wales’s towns, for comparison. On residents who describe themselves as White British, Abergele sits higher than 72% of UK towns: 95%. Against a figure of 47% across Wales’s towns, the share of residents with no religion in Abergele comes in at 37%.
12% of residents give unpaid care, more than in 97% of UK towns
Legal partnership status (residents 16 and over) and unpaid care (residents 5 and over), Census 2021.
Partnership status · residents 16 and over
Unpaid care given · share of residents 5 and over
Here 48% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, where the figure across Wales’s towns is 43%. 29% of adults have never married or formed a civil partnership. As a reference point, 10% of residents give unpaid care across Wales’s towns.
Qualified to degree level: 31% of adults
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
21% of Abergele’s adults have no qualification (20% across Wales’s towns), and 31% have one at degree level (31%).
Of 482 UK towns its size (6,000 to 12,000 people), the 34th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
Tidworth is the youngest (28.4); Barton on Sea the oldest (65.3). Nearest to Abergele in age: New Milton (52.1), Ludlow (52.2), Ponteland (52.5) and Haxby (52.7).
Abergele and its 7 nearest towns: 2 of them are older
Nearby built-up areas coloured by median age, Census 2021. Tap a town for its page.
| Town | People | Away | Median age | 65+ | Homes with children |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abergele | 8,531 | — | 52.2 | 33% | 21% |
| Pensarn | 1,329 | 0.9 mi | 57.8 | 37% | 11% |
| Llanddulas | 1,097 | 2.4 mi | 53.2 | 32% | 20% |
| Mynydd Marian | 1,351 | 2.9 mi | 39.8 | 15% | 34% |
| Kinmel Bay | 9,016 | 2.9 mi | 50.3 | 28% | 25% |
| Bodelwyddan | 1,785 | 3.4 mi | 42.2 | 20% | 30% |
| Rhyl | 26,982 | 5.2 mi | 41.8 | 21% | 28% |
| Rhuddlan | 3,791 | 5.2 mi | 50.8 | 29% | 21% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Clwyd’s towns” and “Wales’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Clwyd (or Wales), summed the same way as Abergele’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out. The population trend compares with the whole county and nation.
- Estimates since 2021 are modelled. The ONS builds mid-year estimates from the Census, births, deaths and migration records. Abergele’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 8,851 people in 2021, against 8,531 in the built-up area.
- Small counts are blurred. The ONS adds small random changes to Census counts to protect privacy, so the same total differs a little between tables, and the shares of a small town can move by a point or two.
Questions about Abergele’s residents
What is the population of Abergele?
The 2021 Census counted 8,531 people in Abergele’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 9,200 people in mid-2024, 13% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Abergele?
The median age was 52.2 at the 2021 Census, older than 92% of UK towns. 7.9% of residents were 15 to 24 and 33% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Abergele?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 92% across Clwyd’s towns. 4.6% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Abergele?
37% said they had no religion and 54% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.3% were Muslim and 6.7% didn’t answer.
Is Abergele good for families?
21% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Abergele’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Abergele?
1,756 residents aged 3 and over, 21%, said they can speak Welsh at the 2021 Census, against 16% across Welsh towns.
Sources: ONS Census 2021, output areas summed to the ONS 2022 built-up area (TS002, TS003, TS004, TS007A, TS008, TS015, TS017, TS019, TS021, TS029, TS030, TS039, TS044, TS045, TS062, TS067, TS032) · ONS mid-year population estimates for 2021 LSOAs, mid-2011 to mid-2024. All under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.