The County of Northumberland

• Northumberland is the sixth largest of all English Counties, covering 1,960 square miles.
• It has one of the lowest population densities with 311,000 (mid-2008 estimate) people living across the whole county.
• 46% live in less than 3% of the land area giving an urban concentration in the south east corner of the county and a very low population density in the rural north and west.
• Urban areas of South-East Northumberland have a population density of 2,619 persons per square mile, the remainder of the county (accounting for 97% of the land area) has a population density of only 88 persons per square mile.
• The age profile of the county shows an older population when compared to the national and regional pattern.
• In gender terms the split is Female 158,600/Male 152,300, which equates to 51%/49%.
• According to the 2008 mid-year population estimates, there are 186,100 people of working age (i.e. men 16-64, women 16-59) resident in Northumberland, representing 59.8% of the total population.
• Children make up 53,500 (17.2%) of the population, whilst 71,500 (23.0%) are at retirement ages (65 for males, 60 for females).
• According to the latest available ethnic grouping population estimate (mid-year 2007), the ethnic minority population accounts for 3.8% of the county's population, compared to the rest of England which 16%.
• Public services, including health, education, local government, and prisons, provide just under one third of the jobs in the county. 32.9% of Northumberland's employed residents commute out of the county to work, whilst 67% of employed residents in Northumberland live and work within the county.

Identity and belonging

Results from the Place Survey (2008) found that the people of Northumberland have a strong sense of belonging and community spirit. 68.5% feel they belong to their immediate neighbourhood and 80.5% feel their area is a place where people from different backgrounds get on well together.

 

 

The age profile of the County is set out below with a comparison to the national and regional patterns, showing the relatively low numbers of younger people and the relatively higher numbers of older people in the county.

                        Source: Mid Year population estimates, 2008

 

According to the same 2008 mid-year population estimates there are 186,100 people of working age (16-64 males, 16-59 females) resident in Northumberland, representing 59.8% of the total population. There are 71,500 older people (those at or past the national retirement age), making up 23.0% of the Northumberand population, whilst the other 17.9% of the population is 53,500 children (0-15). The chart below demonstrates the relative size of these populations, with a comparison against the national population, showing the higher percentage of older people in the Northumberland demographic vis-à-vis the national picture.

Source: Mid Year population estimates, 2008

 

Outside of the south east corner, Northumberland's population lives mainly in small towns and villages. Distances of around 90 miles can be travelled within the county from north to south and fifty miles from east to west. The quality of Northumberland's environment is renowned. Many of the most outstanding parts of our landscape, including the Cheviot Hills, North Pennines and North Northumberland Coast already enjoy national protected status as the National Park and two Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. Numerous cultural and natural assets are also recognised, including the Hadrian's Wall World Heritage Site and 114 Sites of Special Scientific Interest. There are many other large areas of visually attractive countryside, historic market towns, urban areas and a wealth of cultural features and attractions. Significant environmental improvements have been made, particularly in the former coalfield areas.

Historically, Northumberland's economy has been based on coal mining and agriculture. From a peak of 30,000 in the late 1950's, deep coal mining has come to an end and whilst almost three quarters of the county's extensive land area is used for agriculture and forestry; agriculture, forestry and fisheries account for 5.1% of all employment. In terms of the private sector only 2 companies employ over 500 staff. In general companies tend to be small, 82.5% employing 10 or less people. Public services, principally health and local government, provide over one third of jobs in the county. The majority (67.1%, 91,275) of employed residents in Northumberland live and work within the County. 44,808 (32.9%) of Northumberland's employed residents commute out of the County to work; of these 84.1% travel out of Northumberland to work in Tyne & Wear. A detailed analysis of Northumberland's economic structure and performance is contained in a series of documents that can be sourced from the Northumberland InfoNet site.

A good standard of living

Northumberland is higher than the national average in terms of the pass rate for five or more GCSEs (A*-C). In 2007/08 Northumberland's pass rate was 70.2% which compares to 43.2% in 1997. The ‘all England' average for 2007/08 is 65.3%.

 

Source: Mid Year population estimates, 2007

 

The county's population has increased by 1.67% since 1991 due in part to inward migration to new housing developments.

 

Source: Mid Year population estimates, 2007

Tourism

Visitor numbers and income generated by tourism are steadily increasing and for many communities, the benefits of European and national regeneration funding are becoming apparent with major improvements to the economic, environmental and social fabric of the county.

Almost 1.8 million overnight tourists visited Northumberland in 2006, spending 6.6 million nights in the area. In addition 8 million day visits were made in the area. Approximately 11,400 jobs (full time equivalents) were supported by direct tourist expenditure in the County, and a further 2,650 jobs were supported by indirect revenue from tourism.

 

Source: Mid Year population estimates, 2007

Care for the environment

In 2006 all rivers in Northumberland were assessed as good or fair quality in terms of their biological and chemical condition. During the period 2003/2006 around half of all new houses and conversions in Northumberland were carried out on previously developed land.

Northumberland is committed to making a full contribution to addressing the key issue of climate change. In December 2005 Northumberland County Council signed the Nottingham Declaration on Climate Change. In May 2007 the Council agreed that in developing or reviewing any Council policy the environmental implications should be fully assessed and then in December 2007 the Council's draft Climate Change Action Plan was adopted for further development. Action is being taken to reduce the Council' carbon footprint and to ensure that Council services are made resilient to future climate change.

Sustainability appraisals are undertaken of key strategies and programmes. The Council is taking action across a wide range of services and activities to assess the environmental footprint of its activities and to reduce harmful impacts wherever possible