POPULATION OVERVIEW
AN OVERVIEW OF TORBAY – 2016
The purpose of this profile is to give an overview of the current and future population of Torbay. This is to
provide local summary statistics and help organisations to appropriately plan for services in the future.
There are, on average in Torbay, 5 deaths and 4 births a day (2014). Without inward migration, Torbay
would be a shrinking population. Torbay’s overall profile is one that is older than the England average.
Headlines:
Estimated counts of residents by age group over
 Torbay’s total population is estimated to grow
time are presented in Table 1 below.
by around 4.9% between 2015 and 2025 (7.3%
in England)
Table 1: Current and future resident population
by age group in Torbay (2015-2025)
 Torbay’s over 70 population is expected to
% change
(from
2015)
Count
increase by around 28.1%, from 24,000 to
30,700 by 2025 (29.2% in England)
 Torbay’s 5 to 14 year old population is
expected to increase by around 11.0%,
between 2015 and 2025 from 13,425 to
14,900 (10.6% in England)
Ageing
–
Overall
Torbay
has
an
ageing
population; with proportionately more older
people compared to England (shown by the bars
that overlap the black line in Figure 1 below). The
proportion of people over 65 years in England is
now similar to where Torbay was in the 1980s.
Fig 1: Population pyramid for Torbay (2015)
Age
group
2015
(actual)
2020
2025
2025
0 to 4
5 to 9
10 to 14
15 to 19
20 to 24
25 to 29
30 to 34
35 to 39
40 to 44
45 to 49
50 to 54
55 to 59
60 to 64
65 to 69
70 to 74
75 to 79
80 to 84
85 to 89
90+
All ages
7,345
6,940
6,485
7,295
6,560
6,890
6,540
6,185
7,715
9,205
9,930
9,130
8,850
10,335
8,055
6,240
4,715
2,980
1,975
133,375
7,100
7,400
7,200
6,500
6,300
7,400
6,800
6,600
6,500
8,100
9,600
10,400
9,500
9,000
9,900
7,300
5,300
3,400
2,100
136,400
7,200
7,300
7,600
7,200
5,700
7,000
7,200
6,900
6,900
6,900
8,500
10,100
10,900
9,800
8,800
9,100
6,400
3,900
2,500
139,900
-2.0%
5.2%
17.2%
-1.3%
-13.1%
1.6%
10.1%
11.6%
-10.6%
-25.0%
-14.4%
10.6%
23.2%
-5.2%
9.2%
45.8%
35.7%
30.9%
26.6%
4.8%
Source: ONS MYE resident pop 2015 - counts rounded to nearest 5.
Projected resident pop (2014 based) - counts rounded to nearest 100.
The increase in population, specifically the
younger and older age groups, could present
increased need and demand for services and
infrastructure such as: adult social care; primary,
secondary and tertiary healthcare. The increase
in the younger population, at around 1,500, could
increase demand for school provision.
Source: ONS MYE resident population estimates, 2015
POPULATION OVERVIEW
AN OVERVIEW OF TORBAY – 2016
As Torbay’s population ages, the proportion of
It is plausible that some 15-19 year olds will be
the workforce to retirement age population is
living away from home and attending further
expected to decrease. In 2015, for every person
education. It is unknown if this age group then
of retirement age, there were just under 2
return to Torbay in later life.
persons of working age in Torbay. This compares
to 3 persons in England as shown in Figure 2.
Fig 2: Ratio of retired to working age population
A population summary by town and electoral
ward is shown in Table 2 below. There is
demographic variation across Torbay with older
population in Churston with Galmpton and
Wellswood
and
a
younger
population
in
Blatchcombe and Ellacombe.
Table 2: Current resident population by electoral
ward in Torbay (2014/2015)
Count
% of
Torbay
pop
Average
age
(years)
Torbay (2015)
132,985
-
44.7
Brixham
Paignton
Torquay
Town
16,800
49,845
66,340
Ward
12.6%
37.5%
49.9%
48.2
45.4
43.0
9,400
7.1%
49.5
10,860
8.2%
39.6
6,675
5.0%
52.0
7,250
5.5%
43.9
10,740
8.1%
42.9
7,365
5.5%
39.1
6,870
5.2%
46.5
10,280
7.7%
47.1
7,910
5.9%
45.6
9,940
7.5%
38.7
11,505
8.7%
45.6
7,400
5.6%
46.4
11,790
7,250
7,755
8.9%
5.5%
5.8%
40.6
42.2
53.0
Source: ONS MYE resident population estimates, 2015
Migration – In 2015 there was a net gain in the
Torbay population of around 730 residents. An
estimated 6,270 moved out of Torbay, whereas
7,000 moved into the area. The pattern of net
migration change by age is shown in Fig 3 below.
The highest net loss was in the 15 to 19 year old
group (around 220) with the highest net gain in
the 45-49 year age group (around 190).
Fig 3: Estimated net migration by age group
Berry Head with
Furzeham
Blatchcombe
Churston with
Galmpton
Clifton with
Maidenway
Cockington with
Chelston
Ellacombe
Goodrington with
Roselands
Preston
Roundham with
Hyde
Shiphay with the
Willows
St Marychurch
Source: ONS Internal migration estimates, 2014
St Mary’s with
Summercombe
Tormohun
Watcombe
Wellswood
Source: ONS MYE resident pop (2014/2015). Counts rounded to nearest 5.
For more information please visit our JSNA website: www.southdevonandtorbay.info or email: [email protected]