Photo: Stephen McKay · CC BY-SA 2.0A higher share of households in terraced houses than 92% of UK towns, at 38%
Households without a car or van: 23%, above just over four fifths of UK towns. Llanelli has more residents with no religion than 91% of UK towns, at 49%. The 2021 Census put the town’s population at 42,143, in 18,417 households. On the census count, 12% of residents give unpaid care.
What the Census says about Llanelli’s people
A Welsh-speaking town
9,598 residents, 24% of those aged 3 and over, said they can speak Welsh in 2021, more than in 78% 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.
Llanelli’s population moved +3% on 2011, less than in 73% of UK towns
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Llanelli’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 43,600 people in 2011; 44,800 in 2024.
Growth was strongest among the 65 and over (+15%) and weakest among the 16 to 29 (−9%). No year added more people than mid-2018 to mid-2019: 240.
A median age of 41.9: Llanelli is younger than 70% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
Where 21% of residents are 65 or over across Wales’s towns, Llanelli has 20%. 11% of residents are aged 15 to 24.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Llanelli, 41.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
Full-time students: 6%, a higher share than 84% 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%.
Nearly a quarter of Llanelli’s adults are in managerial and professional jobs and 34% in routine and semi-routine work, against 29% and 27% across Wales’s towns. Residents who moved in within the year: 7.9% of the total. Typically, 8% of adults are full-time students across Wales’s towns.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
In Llanelli, 33% of households are one person living alone, more than in 78% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Dyfed’s towns and Wales’s towns
People per household
Wales’s towns.
28% of households have dependent children; across Wales’s towns the figure is 27%. The comparison figure for one-person households is 32% across Wales’s towns. Households here average 2.3 people each. Shared households of unrelated adults are more common here than in 60% of UK towns.
Households in detached houses make up 17% in Llanelli, less than in 82% of UK towns
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
8.5% of households live in a flat or apartment; across Wales’s towns the figure is 14%. Across Wales’s towns, the share of households in detached houses is 24%.
Below 79% of UK towns: 95% of residents have English as their main language
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
Residents born outside the UK: 7.8%, near enough the figure across Wales’s towns. As a reference point, 96% of residents have English as their main language across Wales’s towns. Among residents born abroad, the largest groups were born in EU countries (5.2%) and in the Middle East and Asia (1.7%).
A Welsh-speaking share of 24% in Llanelli
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Some 9,598 people here aged 3 and over said in 2021 that they can speak Welsh, 24% of the total, against 16% across Welsh towns: more than in 78% of them. Top of Dyfed: Tumble, at 62%.
43% describe themselves as Christian, fewer than in 84% of UK towns
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: 90% of Llanelli · Dyfed’s towns 93% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
Other than White British, most residents describe themselves as Other White (5.9%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Chinese (0.4%). 90% of residents describe themselves as White British, a lower share than in 61% of UK towns.
A larger share of adults who have never married than 73% of UK towns: 36%
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
1,793 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. At 42%, the share of married adults and civil partners is lower than in 85% of UK towns. Adults who have never married: 38% across Wales’s towns, for comparison.
The share of adults with a degree-level qualification: 26%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across Wales’s towns, 31% of adults have a degree-level qualification; in Llanelli, 26%, and 23% have none, against 20%.
From a median age of 39 in Llanelli South to 54 in Swiss Valley & Llangennech
The town’s 7 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Swiss Valley & Llangennech is the oldest area, with 33% aged 65 or over; Llanelli South the youngest (median age 39). Families with children are most common in Bynea & Llwynhendy (32% of households).
163 UK towns of 30,000 to 57,000 people: this is the 74th oldest
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
At the ends of the range sit Canterbury (27.5), the youngest, and Rustington (56.2), the oldest. Nearest to Llanelli in age: Swadlincote (41.7), Caversham (41.8), Ramsgate (42) and Port Talbot (42).
Median age: 6 of the 7 towns around Llanelli 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Llanelli | 42,143 | — | 41.9 | 20% | 28% |
| Bryn | 1,727 | 2 mi | 35.8 | 16% | 33% |
| Pwll | 1,305 | 2.3 mi | 51.9 | 29% | 20% |
| Llangennech | 4,278 | 2.8 mi | 45.7 | 23% | 28% |
| Pen-clawdd | 1,655 | 3.5 mi | 48.3 | 26% | 23% |
| Loughor | 4,632 | 3.8 mi | 43.9 | 22% | 28% |
| Burry Port | 4,966 | 4.4 mi | 51 | 28% | 22% |
| Hendy and Fforest | 2,996 | 4.5 mi | 42.1 | 20% | 30% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- The Census was taken in a lockdown, in term time. 21 March 2021 fell in term time, and students were asked to give their term-time address, so most were counted where they study. Some may have been living with family that day.
- “Dyfed’s towns” and “Wales’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Dyfed (or Wales), summed the same way as Llanelli’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. Llanelli’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 44,291 people in 2021, against 42,143 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 Llanelli’s residents
What is the population of Llanelli?
The 2021 Census counted 42,143 people in Llanelli’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 44,800 people in mid-2024, 3% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Llanelli?
The median age was 41.9 at the 2021 Census, younger than 70% of UK towns. 11% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Llanelli?
90% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 93% across Dyfed’s towns. 7.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Llanelli?
49% said they had no religion and 43% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.8% were Muslim and 6% didn’t answer.
Is Llanelli good for families?
28% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Families are most common in Bynea & Llwynhendy (32% of households). Schools are on Llanelli’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Llanelli?
9,598 residents aged 3 and over, 24%, 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 · House of Commons Library MSOA names. 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.