Skip to content

Wales in summary

Related Links

Wales: Some International Comparisons

This publication sets indicators of health, education and other aspects of life alongside figures for other countries.
Wales map
An overview of Wales from the statistics we publish.

An overview of Wales from the statistics we publish.

3.0 million people (mid 2010).1

The main urban areas are Cardiff (341,100), Swansea (232,500) and Newport (141,300).1

1 in 20 of the UK population live in Wales.2

1.3 million households (2010).3

The total land surface of Wales comprises nearly 2.1 million hectares, of which some 80 per cent is devoted to agriculture.4

Life expectancy from birth in Wales is 77.6 years for males and 81.8 years for females (2008-10).5

Gross Value Added (GVA) estimates the economic activity of an area. GVA in Wales was £45.5 billion in 2010. Per head of population this is slightly below three quarters of the the UK (less extra-regio) average (74.0 per cent).6

There were 1.73 million licensed road vehicles in Wales in 2010. 77 per cent of households have access to a motor vehicle (2007).7

49 per cent of municipal waste was prepared for reuse, recycling or composting in July to September 2011.8

In January 2011 there were 1,723 maintained schools, and over 466,000 pupils. More than 500 schools teach through the medium of Welsh.9

There were nearly 130,000 enrolments at higher education institutions in Wales in 2010/11.10

In 2011 there were 8.6 million sheep and lambs.11

There were around 36,000 babies born in 2010.12

Greenhouse gas emissions have fallen by 20 per cent to 42.6 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent between 1998 and 2009.13

Around one quarter of the population of Wales say they can speak Welsh.14

There were around 9 million domestic UK tourist trips to Wales in 2010.15

Data sources

  1. Mid Year Estimates of the Population, 2010
  2. Wales’s Population: A Demographic Overview 2010
  3. Household estimates, 2010 
  4. Welsh Agricultural Statistics, 2009
  5. Life Expectancy, 2008-10
  6. Regional Gross Value Added, 2010 and Sub-regional Gross Value Added, 2009
  7. Welsh Transport Statistics 2010 – Chapter 2: Licensing and vehicle ownership
  8. Local Authority Municipal Waste Management, July-September 2011
  9. Schools Census, 2011
  10. Key Education Statistics Wales 2011
  11. Survey of Agriculture and Horticulture, June 2011 
  12. Vital Statistics, 2010
  13. Devolved Administration Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Inventories, 1990-2009
  14. StatsWales website: Welsh
  15. Tourism statistics