Photo: Tylerian3 · CC BY-SA 3.065% of households live in a terraced house, more than in 99% of UK towns
Unpaid carers: 12% here and 10% across Wales’s towns. At the same time, households in detached houses are rarer here than in 96% of UK towns. Abertillery’s 4,734 households held 10,248 residents at the 2021 Census. One-person households: just over a third of the total.
What the Census says about Abertillery’s people
More with no religion than most
59% of residents answered “no religion” in 2021 and 34% Christian, against 47% and 43% across Wales’s towns. Ethnicity & religion ↓
Fewer people than in 2011
ONS mid-year estimates put Abertillery at 11,600 in 2011 and 10,900 in 2024, down 6%, against 4% for Wales: slower growth than in 98% of UK towns. Since 2011 ↓
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.
Slower growth than 98% of UK towns: Abertillery changed by −6% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Abertillery’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the town.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 11,600 people in 2011; 10,900 in 2024.
The 30 to 44 group saw the biggest change (+8%), the 16 to 29 group the smallest (−26%).
Half of Abertillery is under 42.9, younger than 62% of UK towns
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
55–59 is the most common age band: 7.7% of residents. Abertillery has more residents aged 15 to 24 than 63% of UK towns, at 10%. In Abergavenny, the oldest of Gwent’s towns by this measure, it is 27%.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Abertillery, 42.9. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About an even split. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
A smaller share of residents who moved in within the year than 86% of UK towns: 6.9%
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%.
4.4% of adults are full-time students, against 8% across Wales’s towns. Across Wales’s towns, residents who moved in within the year come to 9.1%.
Smaller households than 83% of UK towns: 2.2 people on average
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against Gwent’s towns and Wales’s towns
People per household
Wales’s towns.
Shared households of unrelated adults: 1.6%, below 88% of UK towns. For Abertillery, the census puts households with dependent children at 26%.
A higher share of households without a car or van than 87% of UK towns, at 25%
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
14% of households live in a flat or apartment across Wales’s towns, against 9% in Abertillery. The wider picture: 21% of households have no car or van across Wales’s towns.
Abertillery sits below 75% of UK towns for residents born outside the UK (4.2%)
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
Since 2017: 15% of those born abroad, against 23% across Wales’s towns. By way of comparison, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns. For Abertillery, the census puts residents whose main language is English at 98%.
Welsh, spoken by 6% of Abertillery’s residents
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Asked in 2021, 599 residents aged 3 and over, 6%, said they can speak Welsh; across Welsh towns, 16%: fewer than in 99% of Welsh towns. Top of Gwent: Abertridwr and Senghenydd, at 14%.
59% said they have no religion, more than in 99% 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: 95% of Abertillery · Gwent’s towns 91% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
With residents who describe themselves as White British at 95%, Abertillery is ahead of 78% of UK towns on that count. Residents who describe themselves as Christian account for 34%. Set beside that, 47% of residents said they have no religion across Wales’s towns.
A smaller share of married adults and civil partners than 88% of UK towns: 41%
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
Little separates the share of adults who have never married here, 38%, from the figure across Wales’s towns. To put it in context, 43% of adults are married or in a civil partnership across Wales’s towns. Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 438.
Adults qualified to degree level or above: 21%
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Across Wales’s towns, 20% of adults have no qualification; in Abertillery, 28%, while 21% hold one at degree level (31%).
164th youngest of 455 UK towns of 7,000 to 14,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Stoke Gifford (27.8) and the oldest Seaton (61). Nearest to Abertillery in age: Broughton Astley (42.9), Oxted (42.9), Norton-on-Derwent (43) and Brough (43).
2 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Abertillery
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abertillery | 10,248 | — | 42.9 | 20% | 26% |
| Llanhilleth | 2,450 | 2 mi | 42.6 | 20% | 24% |
| Cwm | 2,507 | 2.2 mi | 44.8 | 22% | 25% |
| Trinant | 1,504 | 2.5 mi | 39.6 | 19% | 31% |
| Blaina | 4,553 | 2.5 mi | 44.5 | 20% | 26% |
| Abersychan | 7,495 | 3 mi | 41.4 | 19% | 30% |
| Swffryd | 1,721 | 3.4 mi | 41.5 | 19% | 26% |
| Blaenavon | 5,637 | 3.6 mi | 40.2 | 19% | 29% |
Health, work and homes have their own pages
What this data can and can’t tell you
- “Gwent’s towns” and “Wales’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in Gwent (or Wales), summed the same way as Abertillery’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. Abertillery’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 10,875 people in 2021, against 10,248 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 Abertillery’s residents
What is the population of Abertillery?
The 2021 Census counted 10,248 people in Abertillery’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 10,900 people in mid-2024, 6% fewer than in 2011.
What is the average age in Abertillery?
The median age was 42.9 at the 2021 Census, younger than 62% of UK towns. 10% of residents were 15 to 24 and 20% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Abertillery?
95% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 91% across Gwent’s towns. 4.2% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Abertillery?
59% said they had no religion and 34% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0.6% were Muslim and 5.6% didn’t answer.
Is Abertillery good for families?
26% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Abertillery’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Abertillery?
599 residents aged 3 and over, 6%, 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.