Photo: David Purchase · CC BY-SA 2.0Gilwern is older than 90% of UK towns: a median age of 51.3
Where 29% of households live in a terraced house across Wales’s towns, Gilwern has 10%. In 2021, the Census found 2,184 residents in the village, living in 989 households. 57% of households live in a detached house. Adults who have never married are rarer here than in 93% of UK towns.
What the Census says about Gilwern’s people
Older than most towns
Half of Gilwern’s residents are under 51.3 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 30% are 65 or over, against 21% across Wales’s towns. Ages ↓
Written from the data on this page: ONS Census 2021 (output areas summed to the 2022 built-up area).
A smaller share of residents aged 15 to 24 than 99% of UK towns: 7%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The largest age band is 60–64: 8.3% of residents, 1.3 times the share across Wales’s towns. Residents aged 65 and over are more common here than in 91% of UK towns. For comparison, 12% of residents are aged 15 to 24 across Wales’s towns.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women. Across Wales, 51% of residents are women.
A smaller share of residents who moved in within the year than 99% of UK towns: 5.1%
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%.
In Gilwern, 43% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 19% in routine and semi-routine work, against 29% and 27% across Wales’s towns. 4% of adults are full-time students. Elsewhere, 9.1% of residents lived at another address a year earlier across Wales’s towns.
Only 23% of households in Gilwern have dependent children
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.
The typical household size is 2.2 people, against 2.3 across Wales’s towns. 30% of households are one person living alone. At 2.7%, the share of shared households of unrelated adults is higher than in just over two thirds of UK towns. For households with dependent children, the comparison across Wales’s towns is 27%.
Few flats: only 7.6% of households in Gilwern live in one
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
Where just over a fifth of households have no car or van across Wales’s towns, Gilwern has 12%. Across Wales’s towns, the share of households in flats is 14%.
A lower share of residents born outside the UK than 93% of UK towns, at 2.8%
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%
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Residents born abroad were most often born in the Middle East and Asia (0.9%), then in EU countries (0.8%). Compared with other places, residents whose main language is English are common here: 100%, more than in 99% of UK towns. Elsewhere, 7.4% of residents were born outside the UK across Wales’s towns.
9% of people in Gilwern speak Welsh
Welsh language skills, residents aged 3 and over, Census 2021.
Welsh language skills · residents aged 3 and over
Asked in 2021, 191 residents aged 3 and over, 9%, said they can speak Welsh; across Welsh towns, 16%: fewer than in 78% of Welsh towns. The highest share in Gwent belongs to Abertridwr and Senghenydd (14%).
96% of residents describe themselves as White British, more than in 93% 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: 96% of Gilwern · Gwent’s towns 91% · Wales’s towns 90%.
Religion · all residents
The next-largest groups, after White British, are Other White (1.3%), Mixed or multiple (1%) and Indian (0.7%). Elsewhere, 90% of residents describe themselves as White British across Wales’s towns. On residents who describe themselves as Christian, Gilwern sits higher than nearly three fifths of UK towns: 51%. Two in five residents said they have no religion (Wales’s towns: 47%).
56% of adults are married or in a civil partnership, more than in 90% 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
The figure for unpaid carers is 11% in Gilwern and 10% across Wales’s towns. Some 78 people give 50 hours or more of unpaid care a week. The comparison figure for married adults and civil partners is 43% across Wales’s towns.
43% of adults have a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications are held by 43% of adults in Gilwern (Wales’s towns: 31%), and no qualification by 14% (Wales’s towns: 20%).
2 in 7 nearby towns have a higher median age than Gilwern
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gilwern | 2,184 | — | 51.3 | 30% | 23% |
| Govilon | 1,342 | 1.3 mi | 55.2 | 33% | 19% |
| Llanfoist | 2,007 | 2.8 mi | 42.9 | 21% | 33% |
| Crickhowell | 2,108 | 3.1 mi | 54.6 | 34% | 20% |
| Abergavenny | 13,689 | 3.2 mi | 48.9 | 27% | 23% |
| Blaenavon | 5,637 | 3.7 mi | 40.2 | 19% | 29% |
| Brynmawr | 5,250 | 4.1 mi | 44.7 | 21% | 25% |
| Nantyglo | 4,548 | 4.3 mi | 42.3 | 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 Gilwern’s figures, so households in open countryside are left out.
- 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 Gilwern’s residents
What is the population of Gilwern?
The 2021 Census counted 2,184 people in Gilwern’s built-up area.
What is the average age in Gilwern?
The median age was 51.3 at the 2021 Census. 7% of residents were 15 to 24 and 30% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Gilwern?
96% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 90% across Wales’s towns and 91% across Gwent’s towns. 2.8% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Gilwern?
40% said they had no religion and 51% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 0% were Muslim and 6.8% didn’t answer.
Is Gilwern good for families?
23% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 27% across Wales’s towns. Schools are on Gilwern’s schools page.
How many people speak Welsh in Gilwern?
191 residents aged 3 and over, 9%, 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). 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.