Photo: David Martin · CC BY-SA 2.0A median age of 35.3: Greenwich is younger than 96% of UK towns
Set against 4.3% across England’s towns, 6.5% of households are unrelated adults sharing a home in Greenwich. At the 2021 Census Greenwich was home to 288,117 people in 113,688 households. Here, 33% of residents said they have no religion. Lower than in 99% of UK towns: 4.1% of households live in a detached house.
What the Census says about Greenwich’s people
More born abroad than most towns
38% of residents were born outside the UK, against 41% across London and 18% across England’s towns. The largest groups were born in EU countries (11%) and in Africa (10%). Where people were born ↓
A mix of backgrounds
59% of residents described their ethnic group as something other than White British at the 2021 Census, more than in 98% of UK towns. The largest groups after White British are African (15%), Other White (14%) and Mixed or multiple (6%). Ethnicity & religion ↓
Younger than most towns
Half of Greenwich’s residents are under 35.3 and half over, against 44.4 in the typical UK town. 12% are 15 to 24 and 10% are 65 or over. Ages ↓
A borough of flats
52% of households live in a flat or maisonette, more than in 99% of UK towns. 43% have no car or van. Homes & cars ↓
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.
Faster growth than 81% of UK towns: Greenwich changed by +17% since 2011
ONS mid-year estimates, each year indexed to mid-2011 = 100. Greenwich’s figure is the small areas (2021 LSOAs) that make up the borough.
People, mid-2011 = 100
Change by age, 2011 to 2024
About 255,500 people in 2011; 299,500 in 2024.
By age, the 45 to 64 group changed most (+31%) and the 0 to 15 group least (+5%). The largest rise in a single year came from mid-2014 to mid-2015: 5,930 people.
Greenwich ranks below 97% of UK towns on residents aged 65 and over: 10%
Share of residents in each five-year age band, Census 2021.
The biggest five-year age group is 30–34, with one in ten residents, 1.4 times the share across England’s towns. Here, just over one in ten residents are aged 15 to 24. Set beside that, 18% of residents are 65 or over across England’s towns.
Median age of UK towns of 2,500+
■ Greenwich, 35.3. The typical town is 44.4.
Broad ages · share of residents
Women and men · all residents
51% women, 49% men
About 95 men for every 100 women. Across England, 51% of residents are women.
In Greenwich, 9.1% of adults are full-time students, more than in 95% 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%.
In Greenwich, 37% of adults work in managerial and professional jobs and 20% in routine and semi-routine work, against 33% and 24% across England’s towns. The wider picture: 7.9% of adults are full-time students across England’s towns. Here, 12% of residents lived at another address a year earlier.
The Census was taken on 21 March 2021, in term time, so students were counted at their term addresses.
Households with dependent children: 32%, a higher share than 85% of UK towns
Household make-up at the 2021 Census. Each square is 1% of households.
Against London and England’s towns
People per household
England’s towns.
At 2.5 people, the average household compares with 2.4 across England’s towns. For Greenwich, the census puts one-person households at 30%. As a reference point, 29% of households have dependent children across England’s towns.
52% of households live in a flat or apartment, more than in 99% 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
Across England’s towns, the share of households in terraced houses is 24%; Greenwich has 27%. Typically, nearly a quarter of households live in a flat or apartment across England’s towns. Households without a car or van: 43% of the total.
38% of residents were born outside the UK, more than in 99% of UK towns
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 50%
When those born abroad arrived
Main language · residents aged 3 and over
Born abroad and arrived since 2017: nearly a fifth of that group, against 21% across England’s towns. On residents whose main language is English, Greenwich sits lower than 98% of UK towns: 82%. For comparison, 18% of residents were born outside the UK across England’s towns.
A lower White British share than 98% of UK towns: 41% of residents
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: 41% of Greenwich · London 37% · England’s towns 73%.
Religion · all residents
8.6% of residents are Muslim. Compared with other places, residents who describe themselves as Christian are scarce here: 45%, fewer than in 79% of UK towns. Measured more widely, 73% of residents describe themselves as White British across England’s towns.
Adults who have never married make up 47% in Greenwich, 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
Across England’s towns, nearly one in ten residents give unpaid care; in Greenwich, 7.2%. What’s more, fewer married adults and civil partners than in 95% of UK towns: 38%. Adults who have never married make up 39% across England’s towns. Unpaid carers giving 50 hours or more a week: 5,906.
Among adults, 46% hold a degree-level qualification
Highest qualification, residents 16 and over, Census 2021.
Highest qualification · residents 16 and over
Degree-level qualifications cover 46% of adults in Greenwich, 34% across England’s towns; 17% have no qualification, against 18%. A levels are as far as 13% have gone so far, many of them students midway to a degree.
From a median age of 31 in Greenwich Peninsula East to 43 in Eltham Park
The borough’s 35 neighbourhoods (ONS middle-layer areas with 500+ residents inside it, named by the House of Commons Library), youngest first. Census 2021.
Eltham Park is the oldest area, with 19% aged 65 or over; Greenwich Peninsula East the youngest (median age 31). Families with children are most common in West Thamesmead (46% of households).
17th youngest of 43 UK towns of 202,000 to 389,000 people
Median age, Census 2021. Hover a dot for its students and residents born abroad; click for its page.
The youngest is Tower Hamlets (30.8) and the oldest Bromley (41.2). Nearest to Greenwich in age: Southampton (34.7), Coventry (34.9), Lewisham (35.4) and Reading (35.7).
A younger town than 3 of the 7 around it: Greenwich
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Greenwich | 288,117 | — | 35.3 | 10% | 32% |
| Bexley | 246,074 | 3.4 mi | 39.5 | 17% | 34% |
| Lewisham | 300,764 | 4 mi | 35.4 | 9.5% | 31% |
| Newham | 351,065 | 4.1 mi | 32.5 | 7.2% | 38% |
| Tower Hamlets | 311,072 | 5 mi | 30.8 | 5.7% | 27% |
| Bromley | 325,469 | 5.8 mi | 41.2 | 18% | 32% |
| Barking and Dagenham | 218,236 | 5.8 mi | 33.3 | 8.7% | 45% |
| Southwark | 307,076 | 5.8 mi | 33.6 | 8.4% | 25% |
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.
- “London” and “England’s towns” mean their built-up areas. Census comparisons pool every built-up area in London (or England), summed the same way as Greenwich’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. Greenwich’s trend uses the small areas (2021 LSOAs) with most of their people inside it: 289,081 people in 2021, against 288,117 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 Greenwich’s residents
What is the population of Greenwich?
The 2021 Census counted 288,117 people in Greenwich’s built-up area. The ONS estimates the same small areas held 299,500 people in mid-2024, 17% more than in 2011.
What is the average age in Greenwich?
The median age was 35.3 at the 2021 Census, younger than 96% of UK towns. 12% of residents were 15 to 24 and 10% were 65 or over.
How diverse is Greenwich?
41% of residents described themselves as White British in 2021, against 73% across England’s towns and 37% across London. 38% were born outside the UK.
What religion are people in Greenwich?
33% said they had no religion and 45% that they were Christian at the 2021 Census; 8.6% were Muslim and 6.5% didn’t answer.
Is Greenwich good for families?
32% of households had dependent children in 2021, against 29% across England’s towns. Families are most common in West Thamesmead (46% of households). Schools are on Greenwich’s schools page.
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) · 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.