Do some background research into the UK poplulation. E.g. size, social and ethnic background - Essay Example

Background The population of the United Kingdom is about 63.4 millions (Central Intelligence Agency, . Figure shows the estimated age structure of the UK population. About 41.1% of the people are in the age group 25 to 54 years, followed by about 17.3% in the age group 65 years and above and about 17.3% in the age group 0-14 years.Figure 1: Age Structure (2013 est.)According to the 2011 census, the UK population was about 63.18 million (Office for National Statistics, 2013 A). Christianity (59.5%) is the major religion, followed by Islam (4.4%), Hinduism (1.3%), other (2.0%) and no religion or religion not stated (32.9%) (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014).

Figure 2 shows the 2011 census ethnic group breakdown in the UK. White (87.2%) is the major ethnic group, followed by Asian/Asian British (6.9%), black / African / Caribbean / Black British (3.0%), Mixed/multiple ethnic groups (2.0%) and other ethnic group (0.9%) (Office for National Statistics, 2013 A).According to the 2011 census, all usual residents aged 16 to 74 in employment the week before the census was about 29.84 millions (Office for National Statistics, 2013 B). Figure 3 shows the 2011 census occupation and local authorities breakdown in the UK. About 17.3% of the people were in professional occupations, followed by Associate professional and technical occupations (12.6%), Skilled trades occupations (11.6%), Administrative and secretarial occupations (11.5%), Elementary occupations (11.2%), Managers, directors and senior officials (10.5%), Caring, leisure and other service occupations (9.42%), Sales and customer service occupations (8.56%), and Process, plant and machine operatives (7.3%).Figure 2: Ethnic groups in the UK, 2011Figure 3: Occupation, local authorities in the UK, 2011The GDP per capita is about $37,300.

The median age of the UK residents is 40.3 years. The male residents’ median age is 39.1 years and the female residents’ age is 40.3 years. The male to female sex ratio is about 0.99. The population growth rate is about 0.55%. The birth rate is 12.26 births per thousands and death rate is 9.33 deaths per thousands. The mother-maternal mortality rate is 12 deaths per 100 thousand live births. The infant mortality rate is 4.5 deaths per thousand live births. The life expectancy at birth is 80.

29 years with male life expectancy at birth being 78.16 years and female life expectancy at birth being 82.54 years. The literacy rate is about 99% (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014). According to BBC News (2014), the unemployment rate stands at 7.2% at the present. BibliographyBBC News, 2014. UK unemployment falls by 125,000 to 2.34 million. [Online] Available at: [Accessed 4 March 2014].Central Intelligence Agency, 2014. The World Factbook, People and Society:: United Kingdom. [Online] Available at: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/uk.

html [Accessed 4 March 2014].Office for National Statistics, 2013 A. 2011 Census, Key Statistics and Quick Statistics for local authorities in the United Kingdom - Part 1. [Online] Available at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-and-quick-statistics-for-local-authorities-in-the-united-kingdom---part-1/rft-ks201uk.xls [Accessed 4 March 2014].Office for National Statistics, 2013 B. 2011 Census, Key Statistics and Quick Statistics for local authorities in the United Kingdom - Part 2.

[Online] Available at: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/census/2011-census/key-statistics-and-quick-statistics-for-local-authorities-in-the-united-kingdom---part-2/rft-ks608uk.xls [Accessed 4 March 2014].Appendix A: TablesTable 1: Age Structure (2013 est.)Age structurePercentTotalMaleFemale0-14 years17.31%10,971,8555,625,0405,346,81515-24 years12.85%8,145,6444,158,8133,986,83125-54 years41.10%26,057,76213,250,43412,807,32855-64 years11.47%7,269,7373,589,3453,680,39265 years and over17.27%10,950,5764,877,0796,073,497 Total 63,395,57431,500,71131,894,863Source: Central Intelligence AgencyTable 2: Ethnic groups in the UK, 2011EthnicitySizePercentWhite55,010,35987.

07%Gypsy / Traveller / Irish Traveller63,1930.10%Mixed / Multiple Ethnic Groups1,250,2291.98%Asian / Asian British: Indian1,451,8622.30%Asian / Asian British: Pakistani1,174,9831.86%Asian / Asian British: Bangladeshi451,5290.71%Asian / Asian British: Chinese433,1500.69%Asian / Asian British: Other Asian861,8151.36%Black / African / Caribbean / Black British1,904,6843.01%Other Ethnic Group580,3740.92%Total63,182,178100.00%Sources: Office for National Statistics, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, National Records of Scotland Table 3: Occupation, local authorities in the UK, 2011OccupationSizePercentManagers, directors and senior officials3,135,42110.

51%Professional occupations5,173,80417.34%Associate professional and technical occupations3,753,39612.58%Administrative and secretarial occupations3,432,62211.50%Skilled trades occupations3,468,63611.62%Caring, leisure and other service occupations2,810,4629.42%Sales and customer service occupations2,555,1478.56%Process, plant and machine operatives2,175,8997.29%Elementary occupations3,333,10711.17%Total29,838,494100.00%Source: 2011 Census